Bella Ramsey talks about role in 'The Last of Us' season 3 and Neil Druckmann's exit

Changes are afoot for “The Last of Us” season 3. For one (spoiler warning!), a pretty major character met their maker in the second season, but that’s not the only cast shuffle the post-apocalyptic HBO hit has in store for fans.

Based on the seminal action-adventure video game developed by Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann (more on him in a minute!) for Naughty Dog, the survivalist drama has been thus far following the harrowing journey of Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey), an orphaned teenage girl who discovered she was immune from the zombie-forming Cordyceps brain infection that had devastated mankind around her.

However, for the show’s third installment, protagonist duties will instead be filled by Bella’s rival Abby Anderson (played by Kaitlyn Dever), the former Firefly and surgeon’s daughter who brutally exacted revenge against Ellie’s father figure, Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), in “TLOU” season 2.

The third season will rewind from that explosive confrontation and show how Abby and the Washington Liberation Front got to that game-changing moment.

As for relinquishing their main character energy for the upcoming season, series star Bella Ramsey discussed the changes on a July 2025 episode of the Variety Awards Circuit podcast. They said of her character’s involvement in the new episodes: “I sort of know, but I can’t tell you, I’m afraid.”

Ramsey was a bit more forthcoming discussing behind-the-scenes change-ups for season 3, the most notable being the already announced exit of “The Last of Us” game creator and series executive producer Neil Druckmann.

“The world of ‘The Last of Us’ is his creation, and so his voice and creative input. It doesn’t just go away in season 3 because he’s not as actively involved,” the actor said of Druckmann’s departure. “It will always be his creation. And we’re always in everything that we do, honoring the game and Neil’s creation. He’ll definitely be missed on set. But his spirit is the story.”

Druckmann explained his exit in a statement earlier this month: “I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in 'The Last of Us' on HBO. With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative.”

Continued Druckmann: “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I’m deeply thankful of the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and their continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II. I look forward to HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby’s story next season.”