Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us game.The official trailer for HBO's The Last of Us has all but confirmed the official roles of the original voice actors for Joel and Ellie: Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. Shortly after the roles of Joel and Ellie were given to Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey respectively for the adaptation, Neil Druckmann - creator of the game and co-creator of the show - announced that Johnson and Baker would have roles also. Despite not playing their original characters, the trailer for The Last of Us has confirmed their appearances.
Troy Baker will be playing an as-of-yet unnamed character who is a part of David's crew, the latter being a character in the game. From what can be put together from the trailer, David appears in The Last of Us with Troy Baker playing one of his group. Ashley Johnson, the original voice actor for Ellie, can also be seen in the trailer as a mother shortly after labor, with the show hinting she is playing the mother of Bella Ramsey's Ellie.
Ashley Johnson & Troy Baker's Last Of Us Show Characters Explained
Troy Baker's character can be seen standing behind David at one point in the trailer. In the game, David encounters Ellie alone in the woods in winter, with the latter out hunting for food after Joel is injured prior to these events. David and his group are revealed to be cannibals and try to recruit Ellie into their group after David grows a fondness for her. Eventually, Ellie kills David while Joel deals with his group in an attempt to save her. The Last of Us' trailer confirms David's role due to a scene with him and Ellie in which he pins her to a table and attempts to carve her for food. Shortly after this, another shot of David with his crew is shown, in which Troy Baker can be seen. Baker could be playing James, one of the few other of David's group that is named who first encounters Ellie with David.
Regarding Johnson, she can be seen in the trailer holding a baby, looking as though she has just given birth to the child. This has led to many theorizing that the baby is Ellie and Johnson is playing her mother. This would make sense, as Johnson's likeness was used for Ellie in both The Last of Us game and its sequel, meaning that her playing Ellie's mother would be a neat reference to her original role as Ellie and the connection to Joel both versions have.
Ashley Johnson & Troy Baker In TLOU Continue A Video Game Adaptation Trend
Johnson and Baker having roles in HBO's The Last of Us continues a recent trend of video game adaptations. This trend is the original voice actors for characters appearing in their adaptations. This was seen recently with Sony's Uncharted, in which Nolan North had a cameo as a holiday-goer that interacts with Tom Holland's Nathan Drake. North voiced Nathan Drake in all four Uncharted games, with his cameo being similar to that of Johnson and Baker's roles in The Last of Us. This also was the case with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, in which Tails was voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey who has voiced the character in the games since 2014.
Johnson & Baker's TLOU Roles Could Prove Neil Druckmann’s Comments Right
Neil Druckmann, who is highly involved in HBO's The Last of Us adaptation due to being a creator, director, writer, and producer on the show, has recently commented on how it will compare to The Last of Us through story reveals and similarities. Druckmann also created the game and its sequel and stated that some elements that were written for the game but did not make it into the final product will be explored in HBO's adaptation. As Ellie's parents are not featured in the game, only referenced, Johnson's role as Ellie's mother would prove these comments right.
Also, the section of the game that has David in does not really flesh out the community to its fullest. David, as one of the game's antagonists, receives the majority of the focus. As Baker played Joel in the original game before ing the reins to Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us TV show and has a good relationship with Druckmann, it is likely he receives a bigger role in the adaptation. Through Baker, a side character of David's group could be fleshed out more as could the group as a whole, delivering on what Druckmann promised for HBO's The Last of Us.