The last of us end of program recreates some of the best moments from the source material, but one that caught the attention of many was the scene where Joel and Ellie meet a giraffe in what’s left of Salt Lake City.

In-game, this scene is so iconic that it provides us with a moment of joy after Winter, one of the darker sections of the game, and helps bring Ellie back after she falls into a deep depressive state. It’s one of the most beloved scenes in the series and has stayed that way in the decade since its release. And as unlikely as it sounds, actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey weren’t acting with a CGI giraffe on the show, as HBO and PlayStation Productions got a real giraffe to work with the team to try and capture the magic of the original scene. .

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Now that the season is over, HBO has released a short documentary called The making of The Last of Us which goes through some key moments throughout the nine episodes. One of the last featured segments is the giraffe scene which delves into how the team captured this moment. Turns out there was some CGI involved, but it wasn’t for the giraffe itself. The scene takes place in a dilapidated building, and the giraffe peers out of a hole in the side to eat some of the undergrowth. Here, Joel and Ellie feed him and make a new friend before continuing on their journey to Firefly Hospital. But CGI was used to recreate the broken building, instead of the giraffe. Instead, the team tracked down Nabo, who played the part.

The show was filmed in Alberta, and the crew was lucky that there was a zoo nearby with a giraffe that was willing to lend them said giraffe to film the scene. Recreating the set for the show was just a matter of outfitting the space with blue screen panels so the effects team could fill in the gaps.

Pascal goes on to say that having those practical moments in addition to the CGI moments was “everything” for him as an actor because it helped him feel grounded in the world in a way that acting in front of a green screen can’t replicate. Pascal has been subjected to smoke and similar mirrors in the mandalorianwhich uses LED screens and Unreal Engine environments to give the actors an idea of ​​what their environment will look like in the final cut. This has become a recurring problem in Hollywood, as franchises like Marvel often opt to have actors act on green screens. big names as Thor: Love and Thunder actor christian bale have spoken against the practice, and by the sound of it, The last of us it wasn’t as dependent on it as other projects have been lately. Even the swollen in episode five it was made true by a 80 pound suit worn by an artist instead of with CGI.