(HBO Max)
HBO’s “The Last of Us” has recently made a big splash in television. Based on the 2013 video game by Naughty Dog, it centers hardened survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) and young girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they trek through an apocalyptic America and learn to create a bond with each other. It features terrifying zombie-like creatures, emotional scenes, and heartwarming jokes between the two leads.
The most recent episode, “Endure and Survive,” aired last Friday, February 10th. It focused on new characters Joel and Ellie encounter – brothers Sam (Kevionn Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson). Henry and Sam are two young men struggling to escape a quarantine zone run by ruthless leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey).
One of the major deviations from the game in this episode is that Sam, in the show, is deaf. So is his actor, Kevionn Woodard, who’s a young Black child actor at just 10 years old. “The Last of Us” was his first on-screen acting performance – a feat when you watch him pull off hard hitting scenes in the episode.
Sam being deaf incorporated a new element in the show’s story: connecting without words.
This guest post is in partnership with True Star Media.