Tati Gabrielle plays Nora Harris in The Last of Us Season 2. Those who have played the video game know exactly how Nora’s arc unfolds, but new viewers receive a shock to the system in the fifth episode. But hey, this is The Last of Us – everyone should be prepared for the unexpected at this point, right?
Gabrielle has a long history with Naughty Dog video games. She played Jo Braddock in the Uncharted film, while she’s also set to voice Jordan A. Mun in the upcoming Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. As it turns out, the actor is an avid gamer too, having played The Last of Us Part II before being cast in the series. There are quite a few callbacks to the game in the fifth episode, and Gabrielle revealed to us some of her favorite moments as a fan.
“Yeah, there are so many things,” Gabrielle said. “Just the red light-lit hallway. I was like, ‘Oh, this is so sick.’ And Craig [Mazin] was really excited about making these match-ups happen, and we did a lot of makeup testing to try to get me to look [as accurate as possible], which is actually a lot harder in a red light than you would expect it to be. Also, the way that they shot it, with Ellie being this centered shot – the same way that it is in the game when you get ready to press the button to beat Nora – it’s that same framing. So those two things in particular, just that you could match it up – literally, you could almost play them side by side – that was the thing that made me geek out the most.”
Unquestionably, Nora’s death is the next big talking point in The Last of Us Season 2, especially after Pedro Pascal’s Joel met his demise in the second episode. We asked Gabrielle if the fan reaction to Joel’s death was what she had expected it to be.
“It was actually really interesting watching everyone’s reactions, and seeing the difference between those that had played the game and knew what was coming, and those that didn’t,” she said. “Honestly, it tore my heart up, seeing those that had never played the game and were just fans of the show. Watching the way that it impacted people, and the way that people had fallen in love with Joel and Ellie’s relationship and empathize with Ellie in this very deep way. Some of the videos that I watched and saw of people breaking down and [being] really messed up over Joel’s death – and not only him dying, but also the way that he died, which is so brutal and does feel so unfair and so unjust. Yeah, it was hard for me to see people’s reactions in that way. I felt so bad for everybody who did not know what was coming.”
While Nora’s time is up in The Last of Us, fans can look forward to catching Tati Gabrielle in Mortal Kombat 2, as she plays the fan-favorite character Jade. Here’s a question for fans, though: Which franchise features the most brutal fatalities: The Last of Us or Mortal Kombat? It might be closer than you think.
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Watch The Last of Us Season 2 on M-Net (Express from the U.S.) and Showmax.
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