Bella Ramsey will return as Ellie in the second season of The Last of Us after playing a slightly younger vaersion of the character in Season 1. Meanwhile, some fans of the video game think the older Ellie should've been played by Cailee Spaeny.
Currently, Spaeny can be seen on the big screen as the star of the new film Alien: Romulus. Shortly after the film's release, several filmgoers took to social media to point out how Spaeny looks a lot like Ellie from The Last of Us Part II. Some of these posts are including side-by-side images to further highlight the similarities. It's led to online chatter about how Spaeny would have been "perfect' for the part if it hadn't already been cast, with one person naming it "one of the biggest casting blunders of all time."
"I think Cailee Spaeny was deliberately made to look like Ellie Williams in Alien to show the Last of Us creators who they had lost and what a cool cast they could have had," another post stated, including several comparison images between Spaeny's Alien: Romulus character and Ellie from The Last of Us Part II.
Cailee Spaeny Co-Stars in Alien: Romulus With The Last of Us Season 2's Dina Actor
Coincidentally, fans can get more of an idea of what Season 2 of The Last of Us could have looked like if Spaeny were playing Ellie. Isabela Merced will debut in The Last of Us Season 2 as Dina, Ellie's love interest from the video game. Spaeny and Merced sharing the screen in Alien: Romulus serves as a hint as to how that pairing could have turned out in the HBO series.
"I’m so excited for people to see my chemistry with Bella. Bella and I have so much chemistry," Merced told Collider about working with Ramsey on The Last of Us. "From the first day, it was there. There’s no work to be done. I really respect Bella. I just saw Catherine Called Birdy and Bella has such range and just an honesty about their work. I’m learning so much. I’m very honored to be here."
Merced is also familiar with casting criticism. She recently appeared on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, and she shared how she wasn't happy about the backlash over her casting as Dina, as she doesn't look exactly like the character does in the video game. Merced figured fans would just be excited that the creator of the game works directly on the show.
She stated, "What confuses me is like, the showrunner and the creator of the video game, they work together to make this. So, if you like what the guy made, and he's making more of it, why are you mad?"
Alien: Romulus is playing in movie theaters, while The Last of Us Season 2 doesn't yet have a premiere date.
