Last month, /Film’s Ben Pearson attended a press conference for “The Last of Us” which featured the cast and crew. During a roundtable interview, Ben asked if there was anything specific she was looking forward to taking another crack at when inhabiting the role of Marlene again, and the actress revealed that replaying Marlene allowed her to hone in on the physical deterioration that comes with a life-long battle:
“I think there was a heavier stillness to her that ended up coming through, which surprised me, because I think I’ve always remembered and understood her as in front of the microphone with a fist in the air and all of that. But there was the weathered-ness of the 20 years of living in this very dark world and not knowing whether or not another side is actually going to happen. You can believe, you can have faith, you can hold the beacon up, but do you actually have evidence? And what does that do to you in your daily walk?“
As seen in the promotional material, Marlene is wounded at the start of the series after being shot. The “good” fight against opposing forces caught up to her in a very literal way. That, of course, would impede anyone’s movement, but there is an underlying theme that Dandridge aptly considers for her live-action performance. The stillness comes after decades of a never-ending crusade that culminates in “The Last of Us.”