Not boring to me
The Last of Us being adapted into HBO TV series (discussion)
- Thread starter keone
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God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Glad you're enjoying it
They dont want competition w/ the Super Bowl
'The Last of Us' episode 5 will premiere early to avoid Super Bowl
'The Last of Us' episode 5 will premiere a couple days earlier than expected, so you don't have to choose between it and the Super Bowl.
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its better, i hate when you have to wait a week cause of bs like thisThey dont want competition w/ the Super Bowl
Melanie Lynskey had 'crazy' Mafia game nights with 'The Last of Us' creator
Melanie Lynskey on her 'crazy' Mafia game nights with 'The Last of Us' creator Craig Mazin and playing 'a war criminal' on the show.
Melanie Lynskey on 'crazy' Mafia game nights with The Last of Us creator and playing 'a war criminal'
Lynskey discusses her debut as Kathleen in The Last of Us episode 4.
By Nick RomanoFebruary 05, 2023 at 09:50 PM EST
Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey and TV producer Craig Mazin go way back, much further than when they worked together on HBO's The Last of Us.
"We have a very, very fun relationship," the Kiwi actress tells EW of Mazin, who heads up The Last of Us with Neil Druckmann. "At the very beginning of the pandemic, he and I would co-host Mafia games together on Zoom, and they got so elaborate and so crazy."
How crazy? "We decided that we would do a game where everybody was a special character. So everybody had a superpower and we were playing with, like, 26 people on Zoom," she recalls. "We had Slack channels going for every single special character where he and I were communicating with people."
Lynskey was already a fan of Mazin's work on the Emmy-winning Chernobyl miniseries, but these Mafia game nights reaffirmed that he would be fun to work with. "I knew I could trust him to be meticulous," she says.
Melanie Lynskey's Kathleen is the leader of a revolutionary movement in Kansas City in 'The Last of Us.'
| CREDIT: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO
When Mazin approached Lynskey to play Kathleen on The Last of Us, a character created specifically for the show with roots in the 2013 video game, she was eager to take on the role. Lynskey describes Kathleen as a reluctant "war criminal." She's the sister of the former leader of a resistance movement in Kansas City, but it was only after her brother's death that she took over and toppled the military presence in the area.
"Imagine growing up as the sibling of Jesus and being like, 'My brother's the greatest human being. He's leading the world. He's the kindest, most decent person. I don't think I'm that great of a person. I don't really need to be anything in particular because I have this person by my side,'" Lynskey explains. "And then somebody brutally kills him and it's so unfair. Who are you after that?"
Lynskey speaks more with EW about her friendship with Mazin, their elaborate Mafia game nights, and playing a villain many people might overlook.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I was reading your tweets recently and cackling to myself. I just wanna say, on behalf of the gay community, I'm really happy that you're pushing the homosexual agenda. [Lynskey responded on Twitter after someone accused her of "more homosexual agenda pushing" in The Last of Us.]
MELANIE LYNSKEY: Thank you. Oh my God. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. This man just seeing my face and being like, "More pushing of the homosexual agenda." I honestly felt so flattered.
You definitely have a lot of fans in the gay community. Is that a badge that you wear proudly?
Oh my God, yes. So much. It's been a badge that I've worn proudly forever. It's just always been a big part of my own community and my life.
I was re-watching The Intervention [Lynskey's 2016 dramedy], which was such an interesting pairing with The Last of Us.
Very different. Yeah.
Melanie Lynskey's Kathleen interrogates a collaborator in 'The Last of Us.'
| CREDIT: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO
When this opportunity came your way for The Last of Us, did it feel like a chance to do something that you'd never done before?
It really did. I know Craig Mazin personally, and I'm just such a fan of who he is as a human being. We have a very, very fun relationship. At the very beginning of the pandemic, he and I would co-host Mafia games together on Zoom, and they got so elaborate and so crazy. It sounds so silly, but even in seeing how he would plan a Mafia game and deal with everybody's characters and be a moderator... I was such a fan of his writing. Obviously, Chernobyl's like one of the greatest things ever, but I knew that I liked working with him from our Mafia games. For me, that's such a big part of it, enjoying the time you spend with somebody. So I knew that I would have fun with Craig. I knew I could trust him to be meticulous. I read the scripts and I was like, 'These are great.' I mean, surprise, surprise, it's Craig Mazin. I really didn't hesitate. I was so excited about it.
Can you describe one of the more outlandish Mafia games you played?
We got crazy. At a certain point I think Craig and I were challenging ourselves 'cause we were co-moderating and we decided that we would do a game where everybody was a special character. So everybody had a superpower and we were playing with like 26 people on Zoom. We had Slack channels going for every single special character where he and I were communicating with people. People would vote in the night in the Mafia game. We'd have to send someone a message on Slack and be like, 'You were killed.' 'Check to see if one of the other super people had saved them with their special power.' 'Somebody saved you.' It got so complicated, and he was so on top of it and funny the whole time. I think one of his most amazing skills as a writer is, in the middle of immense stress, he knows how to bring the humanity into a scene and the humor, even when things are at the very height. He would do that a lot in Mafia. You would have to announce that somebody was brutally murdered in the night and he would announce it in the funniest way possible with the most amount of dramatic tension. It was a very fun time. I miss it. I mean, I don't miss the early days of the pandemic, but yeah.
Did Craig maintain that level of humor on The Last of Us?
He's just such a funny person. He's funny and he's meticulous. Those are the two. He pays attention to everything. I remember one day being in a conversation with him and his eyes kind of drifted up and I was like, "What is he doing?" There was an exit sign that didn't look like it had been dirty for the required amount of time. Someone had to come in and dirty it more. He's really looking at everything. I don't even know if that would've been in the frame. It was a little tiny thing, but he's just paying attention to everything.
Kathleen, as a character, is someone even people who have played the games have never met before. Do you remember the first nuggets of information Craig gave you that ended up helping you shape this performance?
He said to me, "I hope you're not offended, but I would love for you to play a war criminal." I said, "Ugh, I don't know." He was like, "I felt like that would be your reaction. Let me tell you a bit more." He told me that her brother was basically Jesus. Like, imagine growing up as the sibling of Jesus and being like, "My brother's the greatest human being. He's leading the world. He's the kindest, most decent person. I don't think I'm that great of a person. I don't really need to be anything in particular because I have this person by my side." And then somebody brutally kills him and it's so unfair. Who are you after that? You are forced to step into a role that you never asked for and you don't think you're very good at. The thing I found very interesting about her is, when she did step into the role, she didn't have a lot of guilt about doing bad things, whereas her brother did. She found out that she was quite heartless and so she was able to be pretty effective in a way that he maybe wasn't because she didn't care about people. That's a very interesting dynamic.
Melanie Lynskey's Kathleen in 'The Last of Us'
| CREDIT: LIANE HENTSCHER/HBO
I know Craig's scripts are usually very detailed. How much of those character details were explicitly laid out in the script and how much did you bring to the performance?
I was gonna say I didn't bring anything. [Laughs] That's not the right way to put it. There was so much detail in the script. I can't remember exactly, but I do feel like there was something about her being a person that you might dismiss, that you might not be necessarily afraid of until you suddenly realize, "Oh shit! This is somebody who I'm supposed to be the most afraid of." I wanted her to be kind of gentle. I wanted her to be soft spoken and delicate in the way she looked around. I wanted her to feel like a sweet person, and then to have a surprising capacity for violence. I thought the difference between how she carries herself and how she speaks and the things she's doing would be interesting.
Is it fun for you to be a villain after playing so many good people for years?
It is. It is really fun. I would do something horrible, like one time I did some scene where [Kathleen] was like, "Kids die every day" or something like that. I was like, "It's just my vendetta." Craig and I would always say "my vendetta" with a New Zealand accent.
im confused biggest critic this show gets are from the people that are playing the game.Looking worse than comic book readers.
before the show started they were saying that they were following other characters and story line
but now in this thread i have seen multiple clips being posted from the game that happens exactly in the tv show?
also to me the show is good. Bill is a nut i always liked characters like him
he reminds me of that crazy dude from Independence day that nobody believed till aliens came.
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
She's a terrible actress that keeps getting work, She sucked in yellowjackets too. I liked her better when she just played bimbos.
she is bad i agree
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Last of us 1&2 are my two favorite games, maybe I'm Being hard on it but since episode one which was perfect they've been making small but substantial changes and then bigger and bigger departures from the game.(changing the year also eliminates a major song from last of us 2 that is crucial to the story.) The game itself is known for its story as much as it's gameplay, they've taken out the brutality, the gore, the writing isn't as witty or as charming as the game, the game is near perfect imo so all they had to do was compile the best moments and trim the fat. It's a narrative driven game, these studios and directors never fucking learn, there's a reason this game is so beloved. The general public seems to love it so it won't matter but I have very low hopes that they can pull off season 2(which is much more complex and layered) when imo they're starting to drop the ball in season 1.
Pedro Pascal and the game of thrones girl are great, and I do hope they're able to get it right ultimately, but I'd be lying if I say I'm not disappointed that yet another adaptation of a video game thinks it's too good or too creative to stick to the game. The majority of movies and tv today could only wish to be as good as those two games.
i hear what u are saying. that will be always the case.
people that read books say the exact same thing.
but yeah it will always be changes
specially these days when spoilers are easy to be found
personally i dont care if they copied it exactly like the game
cause there is a reason why a product becomes popular
but in this industry, business comes first
but to me the show is good and it might get even better
what i do find strange is that they removed the gore since this is on HBO
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
I definitely understand changes but only if they make it better, so far the changes have been for the worse imo. And yeah not having gore and zombies on a zombie show is getting pretty strange, especially on HBO, don't get me wrong the last of us has always stressed that the real danger comes from the humans but still there where a ton of zombies, the changes to bills story just wasted an hour they could have dedicated to the games actual story and eliminated at least three great action set pieces and epic moments from the game. Changing the way you get infected made it 1000x less scary. Spores can get anywhere and everywhere, the visual of a greenish dust cloud in the game always upped the intensity of the moment and spelled true danger for our leads, changing the bandits to some kind of freedom fighting group is also a mistake imo and I really hate how they're alluding to Ellie being this kid who's pre disposed to violence is also dumb, in the game her change comes on slowly and reaches a crucial peak in the snow scenes, that trust and betrayal are what start to turn her into the Killing machine psycho that she is in TLOU2. Again I know I'm a last of us junkie who's expectations are way too high, but I just don't understand the changes and decisions that they've made so far. Still, fingers crossed they ultimately get it right. What's most important to me is that they get part 2 right.
ah i see, i think that is more of a budget thing. but that would been intense for sure
i think this is also a budget thing these zombies are more cgi than lets say the twd
i havent played the game but this was strange to me also
i figured she would see things that will indeed turn her into killer
this is the thing cause it still good for the people that are not familiar with it
so somebody did something right
trust me if it sucks i be the first one to talk
i stopped watchingg the walking dead after season 4 or 5
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
I didn't take budget into account, maybe they went cheap not knowing if it would be a hit, Hopefully that won't be the case for season two since the scope is around 3x bigger than TLOU.
And yeah, I had to stop walking dead myself. It was the same thing over and over and it got tired pretty quickly.
true
that is my biggest issue when it comes to movies or shows
first thing i look at is the budget
if u look at HBO lot of shows got cancelled due to budget
this is new u never know if it will hit
they prolly saved the action for the last few eps
and with shows like this its easier too do
cause like u said it focus more on human relations
i notice that the first 3 ep where almost movie length
they basically gave us 6 eps not counting eps 4 cause that was 45 min
bet you season 2 will def be bigger now that its a hit
Bout that time
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Much better episode, still wish that they stuck closer to the source and the chick was terrible as the leader, but compared to the last two episodes I'm happy. The ending definitely hit hard and was very well done, looking forward to the next one.
Kathleen was whack because she wasn’t imposing.
But this was a great episode. Might be my favorite one.
Bloater was out here taking heads
But this was a great episode. Might be my favorite one.
Bloater was out here taking heads
man
and say every role that ends sad give it to me
man this lil nergro kofi jones aka henry must go to his agent
and say every role that ends sad give it to me
I love this show the whole fam be watching. Y’all video game and comic book nerds always be crying about dumb shit .
That Resistance leader in Kansas is a fucking cunt. Why are they following that fat bitch. Sitting around threatening people. I’d put a bullet in that bitches face. Like who the fuck are you? Why would anybody listen to that ho? Fuck outta here
That Resistance leader in Kansas is a fucking cunt. Why are they following that fat bitch. Sitting around threatening people. I’d put a bullet in that bitches face. Like who the fuck are you? Why would anybody listen to that ho? Fuck outta here
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
She was terribly miscast, asking the audience to believe that someone wouldn't have shot her to death ages ago was silly at best. She's got an entire town following her on some personal vendetta bullshit, killing doctors ect all while sounding as intimidating as a suburban soccer mom.
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Don't remember seeing him in anything else but I think he's got a bright future, the guy can act.man
man this lil nergro kofi jones aka henry must go to his agent
and say every role that ends sad give it to me
That pissed me off
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Shit... she was so fat that someone would have killed her for hogging the rations. How are you in a zombie apocalypse 20+ years and have a full gut and two chins?
spoilers
who is watching your honor?(discussion) Season 2 (2022) Official Teaser Trailer
couldnt find a thread
www.bgol.us