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Ashley Johnson Shed 'Projectile Tears' After Getting HBO The Last of Us Role


Credit: HBO

We already know that Ashley Johnson has one of the most highly-anticipated cameos in The Last of Us. After all, the original Ellie actor is playing live-action Ellie's mother Anna and it's a role that appears to be written just for Johnson. However, the voice actress was the last person to expect that she would be cast in the HBO series. Johnson admits she cried when she discovered she is being asked to appear in the wildly successful adaptation.

Ashley Johnson recently spoke to GamesRadar where she shared her reaction when game creator and co-showrunner Neil Druckmann sent her a text message asking her to be on the show.

"Yeah, he just texted and said 'Hey, Craig [Mazin] and I have been talking and, would you like to play Ellie's mom?' and I was just ... projectile tears. I was just like 'What? Are you serious?'," Johnson admitted.

It's a fitting reaction considering that voice actors don't usually get invited to appear in the live-action adaptation of the games they worked on. However, The Last of Us has proven to be different, casting the game actors in new roles. The only exception is Merle Dandridge, who got to reprise her role as Marlene in the first and last episodes of the show.

Ashley Johnson only appeared in The Last of Us Episode 9 but the impact of her performance was astounding. In the season finale, it was revealed that Ellie's mother was bitten by an Infected just as she was giving birth. Anna's short but awesome interactions with little Ellie were heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Needless to say, we're glad that Johnson was brought in to play such an important character.

All episodes of the first season of The Last of Us are now streaming on HBO Max.

Related: The Last of Us Star Seemingly Confirms Pedro Pascal's Reduced Season 2 Role

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