MovieChat Forums > The Last of Us (2013) Discussion > Do YOU think they purposefully made Elli...

Do YOU think they purposefully made Ellie like Ellen Page?

posted 9 years ago by david_hokey_16
2 replies | jump to latest

I actually do. She looks almost identical to Page and much more like her than the actual actress who plays her. They chose an actress with a similar sounding voice. Her personality is very similar to that of characters Page has been known to play. It's almost as if Juno herself was thrust into an apocalyptic world. And her name is Ellie... Not to mention the fact that it was released in the same year as Beyond Two Souls which actually features Page. They also revealed Ellie to be gay (or at least bisexual) a year after the games release with the Left Behind story which just so happened to be released on the same day Page herself came out publicly. Now there had been rumors that she was gay and many well-known celebs were already aware of said fact so it couldn't have been too hard to figure this out and then incorporate it into the story. All that aside - Ellie is pretty much a walking Ellen Page character.

So what are my final thoughts? This is an outstanding game, but, yeah, I think they did rip-off her likeness. Many people thought it was her so they got the bonus of people believing Page was in the game and therefore drawing them in without having to pay her a cent. Ellen was reportedly frustrated by this which I can completely understand especially since she had her own game coming out that same year. But she never took legal action like most actors today would. I think she's far too nice and chill of a person to do that.

[–] cberbes 9 years ago

I think they did, and I honestly think they did it to hide the opening scene.

When the stuff first started coming out prior to the game release, there was talk about Page being upset that she looked like the main character and they would tweak her appearance. So like a lot of people I know, when I started the game I assumed Sarah was the same girl from the cover and assumed she was going to be in the whole game. I didn't expect her to die and that Ellie was a completely different character. Maybe it was common knowledge that they were not the same but I didn't and a lot of people I know didn't. I thought the whole Page thing was a red herring to give you a reason why the girl in the beginning looked different than the girl on the cover.

[–] underclass_hero24 9 years ago

I think there was more like an unconscious draw to making Ellie look like Ellen Page originally but I don't think it was the real intention. If you read the Art of the Last of Us there is actually about 30 different sketches of Ellie concepts all of which are completely different (different hair styles and color, different facial features, different outfits).
The very first press images of Ellie do bear a strong resemblance to Ellen Page yes, however I think the final version we got bears a stronger resemblance to hear voice actress Ashley Johnson. Seriously google her and then look at Ellie, you'll see more of her face in Ellie than you do Ellen Page in the final version.