‘The Last of Us’ Showrunner Explains the Decision to Make Sam a Deaf Character
The Last of Us Episode 5 introduced Sam and Henry. In the HBO series, Henry is the most wanted man in Kansas City, on the run from Kathleen and her supporters. Henry made a fateful decision to save his brother that put him on all the Hunter’s radars. Both Henry and Sam are characters in the game, but unlike in the game, Sam is deaf. Showrunner Craig Mazin explains the decision to make this change to the character.
[WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Episode 5.]
Sam uses a Magic Slate to communicate in ‘The Last of Us’
Kathleen desperately searches for Henry in The Last of Us Episode 4. The following episode explains the reason. Henry’s 8-year-old brother fell sick with leukemia, and FEDRA agents had the only drugs that could help him. These drugs were not easy to get, so Henry sold out the leader of the resistance movement to FEDRA. That man was Kathleen’s brother.
In episode 5, Henry and Sam are desperately trying to get out of Kansas City. Sam is deaf and communicates through American Sign Language (ASL). When Sam meets people who do not sign, like Ellie and Joel, he uses a Magic Slate Paper Saver to communicate.
“In the post-apocalypse, it’s the low tech ultimately that is the most valuable,” showrunner Craig Mazin stated while appearing on HBO’s official The Last of Us podcast. “That thing makes a lot of sense. It’s just an endlessly renewable way to communicate with people who don’t sign.”
Why did ‘The Last of Us’ make Sam a deaf character?
The Last of Us is based on a video game of the same name. Henry and Sam are characters in the game, but Sam isn’t deaf in the original version. On the podcast, Mazin explained why the change was made for the HBO series.
“It started with a bit of a weird worry I had,” Mazin began. “I became nervous that there was a mode of communication between Joel and Ellie that I didn’t want to feel like I was repeating between Henry and Sam.”
Unlike the game, the HBO series The Last of Us follows Henry and Sam’s story independently of Joel and Ellie for a while. “What do those discussions sound like? It could very easily fall into the trap of exasperated father figure and curious, concerned, scared child figure,” Mazin continued.
“And so I was looking for a way to change that mode of communication.” The showrunner also mentioned that the series This Close, which follows two deaf best friends, was on his mind around the time he was working on episode 5.
Keivonn Woodard plays Sam in ‘The Last of Us’
It was no small task to find a child to fill the role of Sam in The Last of Us Episode 5. The showrunners were looking for a kid that was deaf, around eight years old, knew ASL, and, importantly, could act. Finally, they found that in Keivonn Woodard.
“Sam is deaf, and I am deaf,” Woodard signed in a video from HBO. “We both sign, and seeing how deaf people are and how they navigate the world and that they can, I think, is important.”
New episodes of The Last of Us drop every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
