The Last of Us Season 2 concludes with an intense shootout at a place meant for happiness. The HBO series reaches a peak in the second season as Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) uncovers Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) hiding spot along with their friends Dina (Isabela Merced), Jesse (Young Mazino), and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in a local theater in Seattle. Gunshots ring out, and a hero falls. The once peaceful haven of music and art transforms into the latest scene of devastation in the world of The Last of Us.
Despite the tragic turn of events, the cast and crew of The Last of Us found solace in the location before filming the gripping finale of Season 2. The Last of Us actor, Gabriel Luna, shared with DECIDER that he, Bella Ramsey, and some crew members orchestrated a grand concert at the York Theatre in Vancouver. This event unfolded as the production prepared to shoot the final scenes.
Describing the memorable experience, Gabriel Luna mentioned, “On the Sunday before we began shooting in that set, we all gathered for a big jam session.” He recounted how the show’s Assistant Director, sound engineer, and others joined in, playing various musical instruments. “A large group of us, both cast and crew, were at the York Theatre — a stunning theater in downtown Vancouver.” Luna added that they performed for an audience comprised of the crew members who were setting up the location that day.
Luna revealed that The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey particularly blew him away with their performance.
“Bella played a great version of ‘Linger’ by the Cranberries that I really love,” Luna said.
Fans of The Last of Us were treated to a tease of Ramsey’s talent back in Season 2 Episode 4. In that episode, Ellie and Dina take shelter in a Seattle music store. Ellie plays an acoustic version of Ah-ha’s “Take On Me.” It’s a beautiful performance, but one that Merced told DECIDER doesn’t highlight Ramsey’s full talents.
“Bella is an amazing singer,” Merced said. “So they told Bella, like, ‘You have to kind of tone down your skills a little bit, bro. Like, youâve got to sound like you donât actually have as much talent as you do.’”Â
According to Luna, music has been the way The Last of Us cast has bonded since the very beginning. “Last season, Bella and I would play kind of originals that we wrote for each other, just to get some feedback,” Luna said. “And then this year, we did a lot of the same.”
“I bring my guitar to work and the first season there was only a handful of people that I let touch my guitar â actually, probably just [Bella],” he said. “But this year we have so many more. Young plays, Isabela plays. Tati [Gabrielle], Ariela [Barer], Spencer [Lord], they all play. So there’s a lot more people allowed to play my guitar now.”
When DECIDER asked Isabela Merced if she contributed to the York Theatre concert, she confessed she didn’t even know about it â but for a rather cool reason.
“Oh, I think I was filming Superman,” Merced said, referring to her role playing Hawkgirl in the upcoming summer blockbuster, “but that man will put on a concert anywhere.”
“[Gabriel Luna] will perform anywhere. He just needs a guitar and he’ll just start singing for hours. It is the most entertaining thing.”
So Bella Ramsey has a killer Cranberries cover she’s sitting on, but what did Gabriel Luna play?
“We played a bunch of Nirvana songs and I played ‘Rumble’ by Link Wray. Yeah, so we just jammed out,” Luna said. “That’s a really great memory.”
And we have to imagine that fans of The Last of Us might need some good memories associated with that theater after watching the Season 2 finale.
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