Pedro Pascal And Bella Ramsey Explain How Their ‘Game of Thrones’ Bond Helped Prepare Them For ‘The Last Of Us’

The Last of Us might be HBO’s latest smash hit, but it might not have happened if it weren’t for another massive HBO franchise you might have heard of.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the on-screen duo who are making their trek across a dystopian landscape to escape some zombies, were actually on the same show at one point, which is also what inspired Ramsey to become an actor in the first place. “I don’t think that I’d be an actor if it wasn’t for Game of Thrones, ’cause I never really set out to be [one], and then it sort of happened,” Ramsey told Entertainment Weekly.

Ramsey was just thirteen when she was cast in the hit fantasy series, which helped her realize that she actually wanted to have an acting career. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. So it set me up and prepared me for The Last of Us, and all my other projects, in ways that I don’t think anything else could.” Pascal joined the series in season four.

Thanks to the GoT connection, the two Last of Us leads already felt like they had a bond before filming even began. “I feel like it made us come from a family without knowing each other already,” Pascal explained, adding that their experiences on the show were so similar. “To have two characters that the fans liked make their entrance and make their exit is parallel for the both of us and a kind of bonding thing before we even got a chance to bond. So, yes, I am grateful for that.”

But when it comes to learning the mistakes of those who came before them, Ramsey doesn’t think The Last Of Us will have a similar journey that Game of Thrones did. “I don’t think it’s gonna be as long as Game of Thrones,” Ramsey mentions. “I don’t think it’s gonna be this show that goes on forever.” Considering how the final season was received, keeping it short and sweet will be for the best.