star has spoken about the toll of trolling after she was targeted by fans of the video game.
At the start of 2021 Bella, 19, was of the hugely popular 2013 action-adventure game alongside as Joel.
The game and series both followed Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting the immune teenager Ellie (Bella) across a post-apocalyptic United States two decades after a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection.
While the , Bella has shared the surrounding her casting at the start.
When she was first announced as the actress playing the beloved character, some fans reacted with animosity.
Apparently annoyed with the fact that Bella didn’t look like the video game character, they made their cruel opinions known quickly.
Recalling it all, Bella has said she was subjected to endless hate on social media, and even faced calls for her to quit.
Explaining what happened, the actress, who identifies as gender fluid but previously said that she doesn’t mind what pronouns are used to describe her, said ‘everyone’ seemed fixated on her ‘square head’.
Speaking to , she said she developed a habit for doom-scrolling.
‘You’re looking for a comment that’s more painful than the last one,’ she told the publication.
‘I’d kid myself that I was doing it in jest.’
While the vitriol dissipated and she was then celebrated for doing justice to the character, Bella admitted the original pushback was still at the back of her mind.
‘I wish I could say that I was confident enough [already] that it hasn’t affected me in any way, but it has,’ she said.
‘I’m just glad I could do that for them. And for the show. And for Ellie. I want to do her justice.’
A for the blockbuster series, which after just five out of the nine episodes were released.
It was in January when it was confirmed we’d see Joel and Ellie on screen again.
In a statement, Neil Druckmann – the creator of the game and co-showrunner of the TV series – said: ‘I’m humbled, honoured, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey.
Praising the ‘incredibly’ cast and crew, he added: ‘Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two.’
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW.
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