I just want to take a moment to appreciate the chemistry between these two actors during the opening scene of The Last of Us.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m a fan of Troy Baker - his personality and all of the characters that he portrays in video games are near flawless. He brings so much realism and life to his characters that it’s difficult to ignore or pass off as average. I would say that his role of Joel is his best to date.
When looking through The Last of Us discussions, reviews, interviews, and even fans talking about the game, one of the things I noticed was this: everyone is mostly talking about Ellie, and some are talking about Joel, but no one is talking about Sarah.
Sure, she was only a part of the introduction, but I’d just like to take my hat off to the girl who plays her - Hana Hayes. Remember that name everyone.
I got to thinking about that scene in the opening of the game (you know which one I’m talking about, it reduced us all into a sobbing mess) and I had to step back and really appreciate the demand that acting a scene like that takes, especially for a video game of this caliber.
Watching it back, the realism is kind of breathtaking; for these two characters to portray such a heart-wrenching moment and actually succeed in making us feel utterly helpless and try to hold back tears is what I would call amazing. Hana Hayes as Sarah is actually phenomenal - her voice acting is flawless, and considering the game is mo-capped, I have to say that her acting is the same. I tried to imagine Hana Hayes and Troy Baker acting out this scene together, dressed in just those skin-tight jumpsuits with no physical surroundings, and realised just how amazing that really is. How difficult must it have been for them to portray such a heartbreaking moment for a video game?
And so, because I didn’t know who Sarah’s voice actress was, I wanted to put a face to a face (you know what I mean).