Caileigh Winslade 
HBO’s “The Last of Us” has recently made a big splash in television. Based on the 2013 video game by Naughty Dog, it centers hardened survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) and young girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they trek through an apocalyptic America and learn to create a bond with each other. It features terrifying zombie-like creatures, emotional scenes, and heartwarming jokes between the two leads.
The most recent episode, “Endure and Survive,” aired last Friday, February 10th. It focused on new characters Joel and Ellie encounter – brothers Sam (Kevionn Woodard) and Henry (Lamar Johnson). Henry and Sam are two young men struggling to escape a quarantine zone run by ruthless leader Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey).
One of the major deviations from the game in this episode is that Sam, in the show, is deaf. So is his actor, Kevionn Woodard, who’s a young Black child actor at just 10 years old. “The Last of Us” was his first on-screen acting performance – a feat when you watch him pull off hard hitting scenes in the episode.
Sam being deaf incorporated a new element in the show’s story: connecting without words.
Johnson, spoke about this in an interview with Deadline. He said, “I think that sign created a lot more depth to our relationship because communication is not only through words but also through body language. And I think it truly bonded us because we had to communicate through feeling, and I think people felt that in our performance.”
Johnson, like most of the other actors on set, such as leads Pascal and Ramsey, didn’t know sign language going into filming. CJ Jones was the Director of ASL for the show and helped them learn.
In a behind the scenes video, Ramsey says, “In the end, all the crew were signing because everyone wanted to communicate and let them know how great they were.”
Woodard and Sam being deaf not only showed representation on the screen, it also created disability representation on set, which is often uncommon in Hollywood. It allows for deaf actors to show their talents and let others know they have — and should have — a place at the table.
Woodard said, “Sam is deaf and I am deaf. We both sign. And seeing how deaf people are and how they navigate the world, and that they can, I think is important.”
By Caileigh Winslade, Senior, ChiArts
Instagram @fairytwist / Twitter @silverrebi
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