The Original Last Of Us Ellie Thinks Bella Ramsey Has "Elevated" The Role

The Last Of Us is over--for now. We've already received confirmation that the hit HBO series will continue with a "radically different" season two and potentially a season three. But for fans of the source material, the final episode contained a few cameos from the video Game, including Laura Bailey as a doctor and the original voice of Ellie, Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie's mom in the show.

Ashley certainly didn't seem to mind the recast for the HBO series, and only had kind words to share for Bella Ramsey's performance as Ellie at a recent roundtable with the media.

Related: Ellie's Choice Is What Matters In The Last Of Us' Finale, Not Joel's

"Because of the depth and talent that Bella has, I feel like she's elevated it. I feel like she's brought so much more to Ellie than we were able to do in the Game," said Johnson (via Games Radar). "I feel like there have been so many moments and scenes where Ellie has been able to say things that I feel like I never got to, where she's been able to stand up for herself and stand up to Joel or stand up to anybody around her.

"And it's cathartic. It makes me so happy to sort of see this character grow even more and have more of a say in her own life in a way."

Johnson certainly isn't alone in praising Ramsey's performance. Besides the gay army at her back, HBO has also decided to stick with Ramsey as they film season two. According to Johnson, that's probably because Ramsey is the only one who could do the job.

"I don't feel like anybody else could have done this part. I finally watched the last episode and she's so fucking good," she said. "She absolutely blows me away. It's gonna sound so weird – I feel so proud of her. I feel a connection to her, I think because we both love this character. And I think there's so much of her that already is Ellie… I feel a massive connection to Bella and I am so blown away by what she's done. What an incredible actor."

It'll likely be a long wait for the second season to arrive, but fans of the show can get three hours of special features through the upcoming Blu-Ray release.

Next: The Last Of Us Season 2 Better Not Be Filled With Joel Flashbacks