Bella Ramsey Tells ‘Last of Us’ Haters ‘You Don’t Have to Watch’ Season 3: ‘If You Hate It That Much, the Game Exists’ and ‘You Can Just Play’ It Again

Bella Ramsey, who stars as Ellie in HBO’s hit video game series “The Last of Us,” is confronting some of the more vocal online critics of Season 2, which aired on HBO earlier this year and is up for several Emmys next month.

“The Last of Us” Season 2 chronicled the events of the hit video game sequel “The Last of Us Part II,” which had its own share of outspoken haters. Both the show and video game received backlash for the brutal murder of lead character Joel (played on TV by Pedro Pascal) by new antagonist Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) early in the story and the portrayal of Ellie’s same-sex relationship with Dina (Isabela Merced). Online trolls review-bombed Season 2 online and posted homophobic comments on social media.

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When asked about the “louder critics” of the season, Ramsey said on “The Awardist” podcast (via GamesRadar) that they “tried to steer clear as much as I could.”

“Because there’s nothing I can do about it anyway. The show is out. There’s nothing that can be changed or altered. So I’m like, there’s not really any point in reading or looking at anything,” Ramsey said. “People are of course entitled to their opinions. But it doesn’t affect the show, it doesn’t affect how the show continues or anything in any way. They’re very separate things to me. So no, I just don’t really engage.”

Ramsey also told the haters they can skip the upcoming Season 3: “You don’t have to watch it. If you hate it that much, the game exists. You can just play the game again. If you do want to watch it, hope you enjoy it.”

Like the first half of the “Last of Us Part II” video game, Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger as Ellie is ambushed by a gun-toting Abby. Fans who haven’t played the game will have to wait until Season 3 to find out what happens next, but the season will look very different as Dever’s Abby will be the new lead character.

Showrunner and co-creator Craig Mazin confirmed at a recent Emmys FYC event that Dever will be the star of Season 3: “I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way, meaning like, we just ended Season 2, and Season 3 is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn.” Mazin will also be the sole showrunner on Season 3 after Neil Druckmann, who co-created the video games, stepped down to focus on his video game company Naughty Dog.

Ramsey is up for best lead actress in a drama at next month’s Emmy awards, in addition to Pascal as lead actor and the series overall for outstanding drama.

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