Emmy spotlight: Anna Torv is heartbreakingly good on ‘The Last of Us’
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“The Last of Us” has gone down as one of the year’s best TV shows and the best-ever video game adaptation. Adapted from the video game of the same name, “The Last of Us” follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) as he escorts Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the country in a post-apocalyptic world filled with creatures called Clickers (zombies, essentially). Ellie is immune to the bites and infections of the Clickers, so Joel is trying to get her to a facility where they hope to be able to use her to produce a cure.
But while Joel and Ellie are the series’ main characters, the show is full of wonderful guest performances, including a spectacular, heart-breaking turn from Anna Torv. The Australian actress, who is best known for her roles in “Fringe” and “Mindhunter,” plays Tess. Tess is Joel’s love interest and joins him and Ellie in the beginning of their journey. However, she becomes infected in a heartbreaking scene and sacrifices herself to ensure Joel and Ellie can continue their mission.
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It’s a short, sharp performance from Torv, who leaves quite the impression in such a short space of time (an episode and a half!). Her final moment, which shows her sacrificing herself, is a touching but disturbing one. As the Clicker approaches to give her a kiss of death to infect, Torv’s face is frozen in paralyzed horror. It’s a fantastic death scene and is a fitting, memorable end to a great performance. The critics all agree.
Bernard Boo of Den of Geek wrote: “With just about an episode and a half, the terrific Anna Torv leaves an indelible impression as Joel’s no-nonsense ride-or-die Tess before literally exiting the series with a bang, setting the tone for what’s sure to be a heart-wrenching rest of the season.” He continued: “The sophistication of Torv’s performance is worth shouting out specifically. The mix of determination and sorrow on Torv’s face as Tess carries out her final smuggling mission is heartbreaking, and her exchanges with Pascal are beautifully complex and downright tragic at times.”
Joshua M. Patton of Collider wrote that Torv “delivering an excellent performance in a drama is nothing new,” she actually improves the character from the version seen in the video game. He wrote: “Anna Torv’s performance as Tess elevates the character from a mere superfluous casualty into a woman whose loss the viewers feel as succinctly as the characters do,” Patton wrote. “Her skill as an actor helped viewers care about Tess in a way that made her character more important to the story. TV viewers don’t have to do a lot of work to relate to how strongly Joel and Ellie will feel Tess’ absence.”
And TV Line wrote: “To say Torv made the most of her brief time on ‘The Last of Us’ would be quite the understatement. In just two episodes, the ‘Fringe’ vet crafted such a complex, multi-dimensional character that we were genuinely heartbroken when Tess was killed off in Sunday’s tense hour.” They continued: “Tess saved the day in the end but Torv was the episode’s true hero.”
Torv has never had an Emmy nomination before, so she is well overdue. And it looks like this could be her year. Currently, she is in fifth place in our odds chart for Best Drama Guest Actress out of the six predicted nominees. She ranks just above Hope Davis (“Succession”). Ahead of her are Fiona Shaw (“Andor”), costar Melanie Lynskey (“The Last of Us”), Cherry Jones (“Succession”), and, in first place, Harriet Walter (“Succession”).
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