‘The Last of Us’ Star Tati Gabrielle on That Disgusting Spores Scene and Her Confrontation With Ellie: ‘I Felt Scared of Them!’

Tati Gabrielle unpacks Season 2, Episode 5 of "The Last of Us," including her character Nora's tense confrontation with Ellie.

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SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from Season 2, Episode 5 of “The Last of Us,” now streaming on Max.

Tati Gabrielle had viewers of “The Last of Us” holding their breath in the latest episode, for more than one reason. Not only does her character, WLF member Nora, become the first victim of airborne Cordyceps spores shown in the series, but she also takes a brutal beating at the hands of Ellie (Bella Ramsey), desperate to find Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) in order to exact her revenge.

“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” and “You” alum Gabrielle has emerged as the darling of “The Last of Us” developer Naughty Dog, previously appearing in the “Uncharted” film adaptation and toplining the studio’s hotly-anticipated next game “Intergalactic: The Heretic Project.” The actor, who’s got an undeniable effervescence even on a Zoom call at the crack of dawn, can’t wait to lead the franchise. “The kid in me is screaming! I’m over the moon. I literally have no words,” she says.

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Gabrielle spoke with Variety about Nora’s harrowing death, working with Ramsey and how she imagines a Cordyceps infection really feels.

I think that the apology that she gives Ellie and the recounting of the memory, I wanted it all to feel honest, because I think that Nora, differently than Abby, tows a different line. It wasn’t just purely revenge, it wasn’t pure anger. I think that Nora felt that justice had to be served in some way, but from a very seemingly level-headed position, while flawed. I think that Nora wanted to be fair to Ellie in giving that apology. Playing the memory back over, I think that it’s something that Nora still wrestles with: that didn’t go down the way that we even expected it to go down. That’s not what Abby told us. She just said she wanted to kill him. She didn’t say she wanted to beat him senselessly, to be that brutal.

I think for Nora, she honestly does go through this thing every night of watching it play out and happen again in her head, being traumatized by it, but having to push that trauma away and justify it: “No, no. He did get what he deserved. He doomed us all. He killed us all.” It’s not even just about Abby’s dad. It’s about the whole fucking scope of this planet right now. And that man screwed everyone. He denied us a future. He denied us any sense of hope. I wanted it to feel fair, but also I need you to hear it from my side too. And yeah, that little bitch got what he deserved.

It’s so funny, because particularly with the chase in the elevator, Stephen, bless him, was such a dad. Uncle energy! In the elevator shaft, there was a take that they actually ended up using where I didn’t land my footing right. When the elevator actually went to drop, I swung out of the shaft itself. That’s when Stephen called it for the day. I was like, “No, we’re gonna do it again! I can do it right this time, I promise!” And he took my hand. As if he was my dad, he was like, “No, my heart can’t take it anymore, so we’re done.” Stephen wanted to make sure at all times that we were good!

Bella, too! With the beating, Bella wanted to make sure that they didn’t hit me too hard. They didn’t! I was like, “Wail on me! I pinned you down for like, two hours! Let’s do it!” I just enjoyed this experience on the show in general, for how much like the cast and crew reflects the show. There is family, there is caring. When I was trying to cough up my lungs, everybody made sure there was water, there was tea. I’m really grateful for that.

Courtesy of Liane Hentscher/HBO

This was something that I really nerded out about with Craig [Mazin]. Craig want it to be over the top. He wants to make the science of it as real as possible. Have you ever seen when Cordyceps take over an insect or something? I asked Craig all the questions: “She’s inhaling it. When you inhale something it goes straight to your brain. So that means it’s going to your nervous system first. But is she choking?” We would have very pointed back and forth conversations, because I wanted it to feel as real as possible. Her nervous system is being taken over by this thing. Her lungs are being filled with a substance that our lungs are not normally filled with. It’s not suffocation. That was something that Craig said. She can breathe, technically, but it’s just not as easy. There’s more tension in your body. The little twitches are because it’s a thing of the brain: she’s trying to fight through to maintain her mind enough to get out what she has to say to Ellie. You’re going insane against your own will, and rather rapidly. Any means of survival is clinging on to humanity, clinging on to oneself. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as an actor. It’s almost easier to die and say your final words while you’re dying. It’s much harder when you’re not actually dying at all. You’re just being consumed by something from the inside out.

I felt scared of them! Bella is such sweetheart. In between every take, looking at me like, “Are you OK?” Seeing the look in Bella’s eyes of that conviction really did help me as Nora to be affected by the resolve that Ellie had. And letting Nora sort of feel like, “Oh, we’re just all fucked. You don’t care that you’re the answer, let alone care that he doomed us all. We have no future because of what your ‘dad’ did.” It was fun to feel that coldness from them. “Fun” might be a weird word, but it was fun. Knowing that Bella is so the opposite of that normally, it very much helped me find the place that I needed to be. It was beautiful.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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