HBO's The Last of Us series has found its Ellie!
THR reports that 17-year-old British actress Bella Ramsey has nabbed the female lead role in the upcoming adaptation of Naughty Dog's acclaimed video game.
This take on Ellie is described as "a 14-year-old orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet who struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging … as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world."
Ramsey recently appeared in BBC's His Dark Materials series, but she is best known for her fan-favorite turn as the fearless Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones.
Earlier tonight, a rumor did the rounds which claimed that Blade actor Mahershala Ali had been offered the role of Ellie's protector, Joel, and while the trade confirms that he did "circle" the part, he is not expected to be involved.
The Last of Us is set 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed and centers on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be key to a cure for a deadly pandemic. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and the game's creator Neil Druckmann are writing and executive producing the show. The first season will adapt the events of the original game, but is also expected to include elements of The Last of Us Part II.
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.