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Noah Lamanna may have only made a brief appearance on “The Last of Us,” but their character, Kat, had a profound influence on Ellie (Bella Ramsey).
During Sunday’s flashback episode, Joel (Pedro Pascal) catches Ellie and Kat in Ellie’s bedroom on her 17th birthday. The pair are doing drugs and Kat, who is 19, has given Ellie a tattoo on her arm, which upsets Joel.
Ellie fights with her father figure and their relationship is never the same again. A few years later, Joel is brutally killed by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) before he could make amends with Ellie.
In an exclusive interview with The Post, Lamanna explained how Kat and Ellie’s relationship impacted how Ellie behaves when Season 2 begins.
“At the top of the season in the first episode, you find our relationship has started and ended,” the actor said. “And we’re in the sort of unfortunate situation of still living together in this very small community and kind of being forced to collaborate in a way that isn’t really comfortable. There’s a lot of tensions that arise between our characters throughout that process.”
Lamanna noted that in the wake up of Kat and Ellie’s breakup, Ellie has “come out on top” as she gets in a relationship with Dina (Isabel Merced).
“She has this new flirtation with Dina that kind of sucks for me to watch happen,” said Lamanna. “But you definitely get a taste of the history and of the weight of that in the tension between our characters in the first episode.”
Regarding Sunday’s flashback episode, Lamanna told The Post it was “a really fun opportunity” to explore Kat and Ellie’s dynamic pre-breakup.
“We see a much lighter version of the two of them together, and you get a glimpse into a history that is less weighted down,” they explained.
“We see these characters who are still sort of living through this what is a zombie apocalypse and we get these sort of gifts throughout the season of these moments of levity. It’s really beautiful to see and I think for audiences it’s very refreshing when there’s a lot of really intense stuff happening in the rest of the season.”
Lamanna also teased that there could be more story to tell between Kat and Ellie.
“We get some glimpses into their dynamic, but it certainly leaves you with a lot of questions about, what happened, how we ended up where we are,” they stated. “There’s a lot of storyline left untold in between for sure.”
Additionally, the Canadian actor gushed over getting to work with both Ramsey, 21, and Pascal, 50.
“He’s lovely. He’s very charming,” they said of Pascal. “He’s everything you want him to be, which is really nice.”
“And Bella’s really cool. They are so lovely in person and so down to Earth,” Lamanna continued. “For someone who’s been hit with a massive level of fame at such a young age, Bella seems to handle it really, really well.”
“They’re really mature beyond their years, for sure,” they said. “So it was really cool to spend time with them and kind of connect on a more personal level.”
“The Last of Us” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.
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