Rutina Wesley says she was ‘terrified’ to play Maria in The Last of Us and still took up the ‘challenge.’ Here’s why

Rutina Wesley, known for her role in True Blood, played Maria in the sixth episode of The Last of Us, which recently aired on HBO on February 19. During a recent interview, Wesley discussed her role in the show at length and revealed that she was initially scared to take on the challenge of portraying a character that had already been established. Although she was ‘terrified’ to play this character, she still went ahead with it to gauge people’s perception of her. (Also read: Hell’s Kitchen winner Alex Belew says ‘it’s easier for people to remark that chefs can’t cook risotto but…..’)

The latest addition to the series featured Rutina as Maria, the wife of Tommy played by Gabriel Luna, and Joel’s brother, essayed by Pedro Pascal. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, she talked about her career in great length, and said, “It’s terrifying playing a character that’s been established, even though it’s a game. But I also was up for the challenge of playing her in my way and putting my energy on it to see what people would think of that.”

She emphasized that adapting a piece of work is a daunting task and may lead to a mere imitation or a substandard outcome. She said, “Sometimes you can do an adaptation of something and it’s a copy of a copy. Sometimes it’s not so great. But I felt here with The Last of Us, they really have had a chance to fly with these storylines, even if they altered them a bit, because it’s human people.”

She appreciated her character Maria, and said, “I loved Maria, particularly because she’s a born leader. She’s fierce and she has this calm stillness to her that I love. She’s the type of woman that I described like, if she smiles, you probably only see it with her eyes. She’s not gonna give you full-blown Rutina red carpet teeth.”

She continued further, and said, “It’s great to see a woman of that kind of stature who is very good with a gun. She can ride a horse. She knows her way around this place and yet she’s taking this child and cutting their hair and getting to know them.”

Maria’s part is confined to sixth episode, but Rutina acknowledged the character’s importance in The Last of Us Part II. With the confirmation of a second season for the series, Wesley holds high hopes of being invited back to delve deeper into the character.

Rutina has starred in multiple films such as Last Weekend, Outsiders, California Winter among others. She was married to Jacob Fishel in 2005. Then, the couple decided to separate in 2013. She has also appeared in a couple of shows which includes–Family Guy, Queen Sugar, The Walking Dead and others.