TheLastOfUs star Melanie Lynskey talks about filming the violent night scene in episode 5 that resulted in her character's fate. 'The level of detail was just crazy.'
Melanie Lynskey opens up about what it was like to shoot her character's death scene in The Last of Us. After Joel and Ellie are trapped in Kansas City shortly after a city-wide revolution against FEDRA, they need to find a way out as quickly as possible. All the while, Lynskey's Kathleen is working to hunt down Henry for having her brother killed. After charging into the suburbs of Kansas City, she accidentally attracts a horde and is slaughtered by an infected child.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY While Kathleen's demise is far from the only one in The Last of Us episode 5, and Sam and Henry's deaths are arguably more tragic, her downfall is as sudden as it is inevitable. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lynskey explained what it was like to film the death scene on set. Check out her quote below:
"It was crazy. She was so not afraid. She's on a wire swinging through the air and she's just like, 'Great!' in the middle of the night in her little Blue's Clues t-shirt. He wanted it to sound like someone was ripping your throat out. It's so awful, but that's how specific he is... I've never been so astounded in my life at what I saw around me. They built that cul-de-sac. They just built it next to a studio.
The Last of Us is about human conflict, as it shows love in every way it can be expressed. Bill's love for Frank, Joel's love for Tess, and Henry's love for Sam are all pure expressions of affection that can lead characters down surprising paths. Kathleen's love for her brother is a unique expression of that, as it shows how it can take those same characters to horrific places should they lose the people they fight to protect.
Kathleen losing her brother in such close succession is a major message that the show is trying to convey. Through her, Joel is learning exactly how love can ruin him, just as the rest of the people in the show are explaining how it can take him to the right places, too. He is face-to-face with the man he was when he lost Sarah, and it is a striking moment.