In this exclusive conversation, delve into the haunting world of The Last of Us through the costume design with Cynthia Summers, the brilliant mind behind the captivating costumes seen in tv series. “The Costumes of The Last of Us: A Written History with Costume Designer Cynthia Summers,” unveils the meticulous craftsmanship and creative decisions that brought the post-apocalyptic characters to life. Join Summers and Spencer Williams in an exploration of the challenges, inspirations, and collaborative efforts that shaped the costumes of this highly acclaimed adaptation. From the everyday realism of Joel and Tess to the horrifying clickers, and the iconic details of Ellie’s outfits, discover the stories behind the costumes that play a pivotal role in enhancing the narrative and enriching the viewer’s experience. To listen to this discussion, head to The Art of Costume Podcast.
Spencer Williams: I am so excited to welcome my friend, costume designer Cynthia Summers. Hey Cynthia!
Cynthia Summers: Hi, thanks for having me here today. I’ve been trying to talk to you for a while!
Spencer Williams: Right! I just can’t wait anymore. Let’s dive into The Last of Us. Just like everyone else, I’m obsessed with the show. I can’t stop talking about it. So my first question is… I don’t take you as much of a gamer… *both laugh* How did you wrap your brain around this project?
Cynthia Summers: Funny little backstory: I did Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, and when I did that… I wasn’t a gamer! My oldest son was really into that game. When I was doing the press for the project, one of the gaming groups said, “Well, you can come and play part of the game with us!” I got there, and it was like my worst experience *both laugh* because you have to have that hand-eye coordination with the controllers. I didn’t have it. I was constantly stuck in the corner. It was very embarrassing.
Right off the top, I am not a gamer, but I have a huge appreciation for people who do get invested in these games. I get it now! When gaming emerged, everybody thought, “Why are young people spending so much time with all of this?” The Last of Us is so well written, like a script. So, the translation from the game felt pretty natural; herein lies the success of going from game to live action. The characters are so well fleshed out.
There’s lots of backstory and room for even more stories, characters, and deeper relationships. That’s what attracted me to the translation to live action. When I first met on it, Craig Mazin pitched it to me as a love story. And I was like… “Hmm…Okay.”
Spencer Williams: *nervous laugh* I mean… I saw lots of horrible things in that game!
Cynthia Summers: There were many unsettling things, and people were dying! So, on that note that he gave me, I looked at it again. One of the things that got me was a piece of the game I was watching where a clicker gets stuck in a corner. The clicker cannot get their way out, and oh my heart just bled for them… Because this was a human. They’re not evil; they’re just taken over by nature, and they’re just trying to do what they’re driven to do, which is to procreate. They’re blind, and they can’t speak, and they only can echolocate. It’s just devastating. Then, the story of Joel and his daughter Sarah, all the devastation that happens there. Of course, he meets Ellie and that relationship. That’s when I got it. That’s when I was like, I see, I see what Craig meant by a “love story.”
Spencer Williams: I’m a gamer, and I’ve played the game, but funny enough, I’ve actually watched it more than I’ve played it, which really speaks to the storytelling in this game. I’ve watched other people play it more, which is so counterintuitive to what we know video games are for.
Cynthia Summers: Agreed. I think that’s the beauty of it. You can just watch it and not play the game. Although Neil Druckmann of course would never want me to say that *both laugh* but you could! If you’re not a gamer, you can definitely get into the game via the series we created. I think it’s so beautiful. It’s so beautifully shot. It’s cinematically gorgeous. It’s devastating, but the relationships are very… real.
That’s something that Craig had brought up to me at the beginning: we’re going to be in this post-apocalyptic world. It’s a devastated landscape, as are the people, but I still want to show humanity, and I want to show that this could happen to us because these people look like us and they dress like us to some degree. They’re going through the same challenges in life that we are going through. Craig wanted it to feel very grounded in that way. So, all of these elements together made The Last of Us really attractive to me.
Spencer Williams: Wow. There really is so much detailed storytelling. So, let’s dive into the costumes of the show this week. Because this is such a popular game, where was the line between the game and being a costume designer for the live-action story. On the one hand, you are giving the fans what they want, but you are also responsible for the storytelling through costume design. Unlike a video game, the characters are probably not living every single moment wearing the same exact clothes through ten episodes.
Cynthia Summers: As a designer, I am pitched all this backstory and the show’s beautiful overall tone. But at the end of the day, I recognized it was a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, a post-apocalyptic show. It felt at first that my range was very narrow, but that being said, when you see the show as a whole, it’s just really beautiful and the costumes, while not being the main event, are so integral in helping our characters be a part of this world that they’re in. It’s collaboration in the biggest sense of the word as a costume designer probably that I’ve ever done. The tones, the references to the game, the departure from some of the references in the game, the placement of the costumes where they happen in the game, and where they happen in our story are close or the same or in a completely different place. But that was because the timeline of our story just didn’t map out the same way as the game did in some instances.
What was really important was to hit to hit the same major notes. Joel’s hero look if you will, after 2003 to 2023, where he wears the denim shirt, the jeans, and the chore coat. His backpack and his boots were really, really important, and they’re not exact to the game. But I think when you watch it, you’ll see it feels the same. I think that’s what was important because, of course, the persona is there.
Spencer Williams: The spirit is still there.
Cynthia Summers: The spirit is there, and of course, we had to take what was in the game and put it on real people, including Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. You really have to pay attention to what moves are the same in the live-action portion of it compared to how it moves in the game.
This outfit that you’re showing on Joel, he’s the man of the hour in this outfit. I have had so many responses to this look. People are always asking me, what is this? Where can we get it? From the press, from gamers, from cosplayers! *both laugh* It is really interesting to me because I didn’t ever think of it that way, and I perhaps should have. It’s an everyman, rugged, timeless, accessible look. That’s exactly what Craig was after. And so now it’s interesting because that’s exactly what the fans are after.
Spencer Williams: It’s funny you say that because, I mean, we’ll get into it later, but I received lots of messages with questions about the flannels. “Where can I get that flannel?” *both laugh*
Cynthia Summers: Totally! Want to know now? It’s funny because last night, someone from the New Yorker who was doing a piece on this exact look asked me where we got this shirt. They sent out a stylist to find it! The key point I want to make about this flannel, green plaid shirt is it’s in the game. We found it at Fjällräven. The plaid was perfect. The color was almost perfect. The drape of it really worked into something we could alter because we alter everything. It looks the same, but it’s not. Ours has two breast pockets. The Fjällräven shirt does not. People obsess over those small details. We actually had to reconstruct the entire front of it because plaids have to match. When you’ve got 30 shirts to get through all of the action he goes through, especially in this show with his stunt double, it goes through different levels of breakdown. Meaning it starts off fairly clean because it’s worn by Frank. It gets worse and worse and worse. But also, we wanted the two pockets to match the game. They don’t match exactly, but we needed that. So, we replaced all the fronts. Then we overdyed it. We tailored it to fit Pedro because he’s… look at him. He’s a handsome guy.
Spencer Williams: Oh yeah. I am sure we will be talking about Pedro quite a bit during this conversation. I received a question through TikTok from that I thought was very interesting. At the end of life, as we know it, what clothes remain, where do they come from, and are they precious or common?
Cynthia Summers: That really is a great question. I had a perspective, which I spoke about in a GQ ad, and they actually looked into it with a military expert who said I was dead wrong as far as what you would wear at the end of the world. However, in my mind, I think that for civilians who have access to denim, denim is something that’s timeless. It’s been around for decades. I feel like it’s something that’s accessible to everyone at every age. Every generation has worn denim in some way. I think denim was really important for us in this story. Denim styles are timeless. He’s wearing Levi’s 505s, which we overdye, break down, and customize, making them unique and accessible. Flannel and rugged, oiled chore coats are also significant. These items are designed for work, rugged environments, and to keep people warm and dry. Layering is essential, but these pieces serve as good layers.
In a world where time seemingly stopped in just four days, we consider both what was fashionable in 2003 and what people wore in the decade before. Denim, with its longevity and the way we hold onto our favorite pieces for years, becomes a key element. Looking 20 years into the future, what remains? Jeans, with their durability, stand out compared to materials like 100 percent wool or cotton, which are vulnerable to the elements and the challenges faced by those on the move—living in layers just to stay warm during the winter and beyond.
Spencer Williams: And the fact is, too, we all know that fashion is a highly pollutant, destructive industry. So these clothes aren’t exactly made to just disappear in 20 years.
Cynthia Summers: Exactly, that’s a really good point. I think these jackets are timeless in appearance. These oil jackets gain more value as they age because they ease in, conform to your body, and develop a unique texture, especially around the elbows. They’re super durable—we had to intentionally distress them to achieve their current look. Boiling was necessary to remove all the oil from them so that we could break them down. You can’t apply breakdown techniques on top of oil; that would have been counterproductive.
Spencer Williams: That was going to be one of my next questions because I’m a big breakdown nerd. In the first episode, when they’re tossing bodies into a fire, the Boston QZ is a mess—shirts are sweaty, and there’s blood. I thought, “Ooh, I can’t wait to get into this with Cynthia.” So, what was the breakdown process with your agers and dyers?
Cynthia Summers: It was deep. We had a giant team that came to us from all across North America, especially during the busiest part of my team’s work, which was focused on continuity. We had a core group, and for the big episode, episode five, we had up to thirty breakdown artists working in our building. It was phenomenal and crazy, but everything you see on screen—absolutely everything. This includes Joel and Ellie’s new shirts from Bill and Frank’s, the plaid flannel, and Ellie’s iconic red sunset shirt, all directly inspired by visuals from the game.
Even though these items were newer, they still had to be overdyed to appear faded over the last 20 years and to show fold marks from being stored in a box for two decades. So, every piece of clothing, from underwear and shoes to belts, hats, and helmets, went through the breakdown process. Oh, and that’s a whole other aspect—my team worked closely with the props team. Every helmet, every piece of FEDRA gear, everything went through aging, dying, and the process of intentional destruction.
Spencer Williams: It is safe to say then that nothing went from a clothing rack to a set.
Cynthia Summers: I think it really shows. Someone recently mentioned how much they loved the breakdown on Melanie Lynskey’s character, Kathleen’s jacket. When I first saw it, I was amazed at the incredible job they did. It’s not just the degradation of the item; it’s the palette of breakdown that was crucial for this show. Craig didn’t want everything to be black or dark and dingy. Take a look at the lady standing to the right of Millie in the lower right-hand corner picture—that’s a 1980s-style bomber sweatsuit top over a leather jacket. We needed to ensure we had diverse pieces like that because Craig wanted characters to retain their personality.
The challenge with breakdown is that everything gets overdyed first to tone down the color, making it an easier starting point for aging. While this is beneficial, it also poses the risk of draining too much color. You never know how a garment will react to being put in a boiling pot of water.
Spencer Williams: Exactly, and I want to talk about vibrancy in a little bit, but I first want to say I love that scene in episode five, where you can see all of the survivors because these people have gone through hell. Your team really had to add characterization to all these different people. Not one character looked out of place.
Cynthia Summers: Yeah! Look at Perry. Perry was awesome. Interestingly enough, Jeffrey Pierce, in case anybody doesn’t know, is the voice of Tommy in the game. He’s a baddie, and he’s such a great guy. I met him on another show maybe ten years ago that I did, and he played a completely different character. He loved his jacket so much that the character had it when he showed up for his first fitting for The Last of Us. He was wearing it.
He was like, “Do you remember we worked together?” And I’m like, “Of course, I remember.” He didn’t have a beard like this, but I remember, and he just kind of stood there in front of me, posing and showing it off. I was like, “Oh my gosh, is that the jacket?” And he’s like, “Yeah, I wore the jacket just for you. I love it.”
Spencer Williams: That is so sweet! He was incredible in this. It’s a crime that we only got two episodes with him. One thing that I was in love with—and I even messaged you about it—was the colors you used. This really showcases the collaboration with the practical set, by the way, which still blows my mind. Especially in episode two, you see Ellie against this apocalypse-based Boston, with the pinks, greens, and earth tones. It’s stunning. I was just blown away.
Cynthia Summers: This is, I guess, to my point where, yes, it’s a jeans and t-shirt show, but this is the perfect visual representation of how the costume is important and how it works so well with the environment. It stands out, yet it doesn’t. What I mean is, it complements everything that they’re doing. This is Ellie’s first time out of the QZ as well. She’s never been on grass, which is wild. Yeah, it’s crazy. So it was really important. Also, these are colors that exist in the game. This sort of desaturated look, some of it appears cranberry, some more burgundy, but these colors exist in the game, and it was crucial for us to incorporate that, especially in this space where it’s her first venture out into the world, experiencing all the newness of it.
That upper left-hand corner picture with the three of them—what an amazing group of actors. Oh my gosh. That is an actual overpass outside of Calgary, the city where we were shooting for this particular part. It’s an actual main artery to the downtown core, which we took over; not sure how happy the residents were that entire overpass. And when you see it in the show, even below the overpass, all those broken cars—that was all practical.
Spencer Williams: That is insane. I’m sure the citizens of Calgary were very proud once they saw the final product.
Cynthia Summers: Yeah, and it was such a big show for the city of Calgary and the province of Alberta itself. We had a lot of support, which was great. It’s still ongoing, with a lot of support from them on this. So yeah, that was amazing. All these practical sets—I’ll keep telling people, the sets were built to about 40 feet tall, at least, all the buildings, the entire Boston wall, the fallen skyscrapers. I can’t say enough about John Paino, our production designer. Everything was built. Most of them were on location. We took over whole towns to create our towns. We traveled everywhere, even by jet plane, wow, the entire crew, because it was faster and more economical.
Spencer Williams: Oh, I love it. Well, while we’re in the beginning parts of the show, let’s talk about some characters who left us pretty soon, but I felt like they had a great impact. Sarah. Nico Parker kills this role. I was blown away, and then halfway through, I remembered what had happened in the game. Her costume is almost directly from the game, which I thought was a fabulous Easter egg. I just want to give you a moment to talk about this specific costume.
Cynthia Summers: Yeah, this one was important because when we were in 2003, we didn’t have a lot, in the sense of uniqueness in the costumes for our three main characters, Joel, Tommy, and Sarah. Mostly, we have construction workers and neighbors. So, this was our moment to really pay homage to the game, especially since it’s the opening scene. The graphic and the name “Halican Drops” came directly from Neil Druckmann. His daughter, who was two at the time, had named one of her stuffed animals “Halican Drops,” and he thought that would make a good band name. That’s the origin of the band’s name.
Purple, or mauve, was a color that was really important at the beginning of the show, symbolizing hope for our director, producers, and Neil. This is the only time we really see anything kind of beautiful or normal in terms of the environment. And, of course, look at Nico. I mean, my gosh, what a talented and beautiful human being.
Spencer Williams: The career she has going forward is amazing; I can already imagine, 30 years from now, we’ll be saying, “Nico Parker, Academy Award-winning…”
Cynthia Summers: Both she and Bella, my goodness. But it was really important for us to get this necklace. We have a tooth on it, and I don’t know the specific backstory of this necklace. The shirt, for sure, was built from scratch, and the graphic came from Naughty Dog. We aged it down and made it look lived-in for her. Nico is tall and lean, so it was important for us to get the right proportions, etc. It’s really interesting how much actually goes into making a t-shirt. It can be as painstaking as making a period piece to some degree and getting the right color.
Spencer Williams: That’s why I wanted to ask you about this because people might think… “Oh, that looks exact. She probably got that on Amazon.”
Cynthia Summers: No, not at all. Craig was really specific, even about where the shoulder and sleeve land on her arm, the same with Bella and her red T-shirt. They were really specific. The neckline reflects the game, the way it fits both the game character and Nico, where it ends, and how it aligns with the waist of her jeans. Everything—every detail was important, from where the graphic ended around her hip to the details of the necklace. We opted not to use the second shell necklace because there’s so much action for her, and it would compete too much with the neckline of the T-shirt, making it awkward to watch.
So, we just stuck with the little, I want to say, sharp tooth. We made the necklaces, and I just had amazing artisans working on this show. We were just super lucky.
Spencer Williams: It came out great, and I was so sad to see her go, but I guess it had to happen. Let’s take a little break from our heroes and talk a bit about The Infected. I’ve been dying to talk about this with you. It is all practical, as you said… but there are also lots of prosthetics. So, where does your role come in with The Infected?
Cynthia Summers: The clickers and the infected had the exact same process because each clicker, each infected person… *takes a deep breath, Cynthia and Spencer laugh* It was a huge process. Basically, we worked super close, obviously with Barrie Gower and company, an amazing makeup effects team from everywhere—like Game of Thrones. He also worked with Craig Mazin on Chernobyl. So, that’s the connection there. But if you haven’t seen the Bloater yet, wait until you see the Bloater. And I hope they do post a lot of photos of close-ups on that bloater because the amount of detailed work in these pieces is incredible. Look at that guy. Oh my gosh. So good.
And that’s practical. It’s practical. And he had to move, obviously. They all had to crawl out of this pit, run, and fight. And it’s all latex, hand-painted. You can see the fuzz, the remnants of hair, and the fuzz on top. In the end, one thing they did with the clickers and the bloater was they glossed them up quite a bit because of the lighting, which is mostly natural lighting since we’re outside. You can see the gloss on the clicker that’s screaming at us in the lower right-hand corner. When they first said they wanted to put a gloss on, we were like, “Um, what are we going to do on the costume?” But they mostly stayed with the folds.
I do hope these costumes travel because seeing them in real life will be magical for people. You can’t see all the details here, but you can see somewhat where the prosthetic ends and where the costume begins. Where the costume begins is where all the hard work came in for my team. Basically, we started with flesh-tone compression garments for each character, top and bottom. Then we built on top of that, mapped out where the pieces of the quarter-set mushroom would go on the body, as well as up into the neck, arms, and legs. Then, we all went away and started dying and making colors because everybody was a different color. We came back with some of these shelf mushrooms on, and where the neck ended, we put the whole head on if they had the neck. If they were just infected and had just pieces on, some of it was practical makeup.
Then we put the costume on, pulled all the pieces through the costume, and started to glue and marry the costume into the mushroom piece. So, it looked like the mushrooms had eroded through the fabric and grown through it like plants do. Then it’s glued, becoming one piece—one top, one bottom, and the head is separate. After that, the piece goes back to my breakdown team, who painstakingly paint the costume, especially around the upper torso area, back, and arms, to blend in with the mushroom itself, replicating the work the makeup effects team has done right down to using all these different products that look like fermented bubbles. These are on the mushroom as the acid is burning its way through, and there’s fuzz at the ends of these mushroom heads, which had to be incorporated into the costume as well.
Spencer Williams: You can faintly see the fuzz, and it’s creepy every time you catch a glimpse of it.
Cynthia Summers: It’s so crazy. I mean, the level of detail, and then, and then after that, when we get to set, it was super hard to dress these guys because everything was one piece now, and everything is very form-fitted and strategically placed so that they can run, crawl, and fight. In the game, you see that they almost appear naked at some of the clickers because the fabric has just come away so much. Obviously, we couldn’t do that because these people have to act and do stunts in their costumes. But, um, we tried to get as close to that effect as possible. Some have long sleeves because the prosthetics didn’t go all the way down their arms. Some had short sleeves. We also tried to have color. When you break down the big scenes, you can see that some are female. There’s going to be a real fun female clicker coming. I cannot wait for her. Of course, we had the child clicker.
Spencer Williams: Oh my gosh, Cynthia… The Blue’s Clues shirt. I was really mad at you when I saw that. I paused it, and I was like, “Wait a minute.” Because in 2003 I’m older at this point, but it doesn’t feel that long ago that I was watching Blue’s Clues.
Cynthia Summers: *laughs* Blue’s Clues has come back around as well. It’s something we try to repurpose. Our little clicker child, Skye Newton, who is a physical performance artist, a contortionist, and an up-and-coming gymnast, flew in. I am going to post, at some point when I can get it together, photos of her fitting. It was just amazing because she obviously had to crawl through that vehicle, run, and she had bare feet. So we had to do the fake bare feet, which is super hard to do and really challenging on a nine-year-old child. But the Blue’s Clues shirt— I actually asked Craig because I just wanted to make sure I was doing due diligence and there wasn’t a real backstory like there was for the Halican Drops shirt. But Craig just said he really wanted it to be apparent that this infection could happen to anybody, no one was exempt, and that it was, um, he wanted people to look like everyday people like you and me, like a kid that’s into Blue’s Clues or something else. So, Blue’s Clues just seemed like such a great graphic, and we got clearance to use it.
Spencer Williams: Oh, it was perfect. It was as beautiful as it was creepy.
Cynthia Summers: We were so super fortunate to be supported by HBO on this budgetarily. So we had a huge warehouse space where they would start at all hours of the night to put these people into the work for their prosthetics and costumes. And that was, um, it was really something.
Spencer Williams: Is there a role in a costume department where I just get to sit in a corner and just watch you work for 18 months? Because I would like to apply. I mean.
Cynthia Summers: Yeah, for sure. I mean we could find work for you to do! That’s the fun part of it. We had a lot of people because we were working so remotely, and we needed so many crew. We had a lot of people who were pretty new, and it was a super amazing opportunity for people to learn the industry on such a huge project— one of HBO’s biggest projects ever, certainly for the year in which we were doing it.
Spencer Williams: Okay, Cynthia… Pedro Pascal is perhaps one of the most famous people on this planet right now. And I would be remiss if I did not ask you what it was like collaborating with the man himself on the show. I mean, he kills it as Joel. He looks amazing. Everyone’s obsessed with his jackets like we talked about, the flannels. What was it like?
Cynthia Summers: It was really great. I didn’t get to meet him or even speak with him until he arrived for his first fitting because he was so busy. Like, this is his moment. Well, it’s been his moment for a while, but now he’s just everywhere. It was a long 14 months. He came in; as a costume designer, you set the room up, you have all of your options. We actually broke everything down before the fittings as well, which is a little bit backward sometimes, but we were able to do that. So I really wanted him to be able to feel who the character was the moment he stepped into the fitting room. I think we often try to find one thing in common with the person we’re going to be having the fitting with. I want to make it comfortable for everyone. And for me, often, it’s my dog, Rudy, for whom I have a really great photo of him holding in his first year.
Spencer Williams: Oh my gosh. I’m sure that’s an amazing photo.
Cynthia Summers: So I’m all ready. I’ve got it all, and he’s coming off the second season of The Mandalorian, as well as his amazing work in Game of Thrones and everything else that he’s done. So I was a little nervous about it being a jeans and a T-shirt show. So I’ve got my best spiel going, and he comes in fresh off the plane. It’s hard to walk into something like a fitting with someone for the first time with someone you’ve not met, and basically, to some degree, get naked and put clothes on. He walked in like, “Let’s do it. This is great.” I kind of gave him the spiel, and I was like, “So, it’s not going to be as exciting as your last amazing projects,” and he was like, “I am so down with wearing clothes that are going to be comfortable.”
Spencer Williams: That’s great! Besides, I never imagined the Beskar armor to be quite comfortable. So I’m sure this was a nice change.
Cynthia Summers: Plus, he had to get dirty with no helmet. So it started off on a great foot, and I think we nailed his jeans. They were either the first or second pair he put on. He was just really into it. He was chatty. He had ideas. He knows what feels good on him, and he’s a pro. So he knows what it is going to take for him to be able to pull this character off. What else can you ask for as a designer? That’s the biggest gift of all.
Spencer Williams: Sounds like a dream collaborator.
Cynthia Summers: Absolutely.
Spencer Williams: I’m excited to talk to you, Cynthia, about Tess. I mean, we only had her for a moment there, but her scenes were just so powerful. Anna Torv is a force. Her costumes are pretty functional, I would say. You could tell that she’s been going through this for a long time. She’s not exactly, I would say, a fashion queen; that’s not what’s important to her. So, how would you describe her?
Cynthia Summers: Totally that. And she’s, well, she’s Joel’s partner in the story. She feels the weight of the world and the gravity of the mission much more than Joel does. While Joel is more focused on the car battery, Tess senses the gravity of their situation and takes it on as the responsible, mature figure between the two. Physically resilient and strong, she engages in scraps, portraying a powerful woman. Anna Torv’s portrayal is amazing, and Tess’s character prioritizes function over appearance. We aimed to pay homage to the game’s character look while introducing more color to avoid excessive desaturation. Due to the physical demands of the role, sleeves were necessary for Tess, reflecting the practicality of her functional outfit. The concept of acquiring pieces in the Boston QZ aligns with the idea that clothing is gained rather than bought, resulting in an eclectic mix of styles. Additionally, a flashback scene at Frank and Bill’s showcases Tess’s early days with Joel and the transformative journey they undergo, adding a beautiful layer to her character.
Spencer Williams: You could tell that she was really excited about that little luncheon.
Cynthia Summers: The luncheon scene offered a different perspective on Tess. There was a softness about her that wasn’t evident in the initial takes of the character, where she appears strictly business—both physically and mentally. Tess has faced significant hardships in life, and even her hairstyle, which diverged from a simple ponytail, reflected her complexity. The choice to maintain a slightly messy look, referencing the game, felt fitting and not distracting. Often, production avoids showcasing scars on characters’ faces due to the challenges of continuity, but for Tess, the decision was to keep it authentic. The character endures physical challenges, and the decision to portray realistic bruises and scars adds depth to her portrayal. Anna Torv fully embraced this authenticity, bringing a genuine and compelling dimension to Tess.
Spencer Williams: The costumes really added to the realness and the authenticity. I mean, obviously this is fictional, but in that moment when you’re watching the QZ scenes, it felt real.
Cynthia Summers: I really loved working with Anna. It was too bad that her character’s life was short-lived.
Spencer Williams: I want to see Anna Torv in a lot more roles. On that same subject, I cannot stop talking about how amazing Bella Ramsey is as Ellie. Obviously, she’s a big part of the show and the game. She’s just amazing. She always seems to have protective layers, which I really appreciate. But occasionally, I noticed you work in Easter eggs every once in a while, like the palm tree shirt, which I thought was immediately recognizable. So, what was it like working with Bella on Ellie?
Cynthia Summers: Bella’s a joy to work with! I had spoken to another designer who was working with her before we started just to sort of get sizes as we often do and just feel the temperature of what Bella is like being a young person. She was 17 at the time. She came in and was just such a smart human being. She’s also very empathetic and invested in what she’s doing as an actor.
I believe this obviously shows in all of her work, but maybe especially here because she’s embodying this character who’s not wearing period clothing, which she often does. She’s playing an all-American girl in a non-traditional way.
She had a lot to embrace and overcome in the creation of this character. I think she did such an amazing job and she’s got this great sense of comic timing as well. Both she and Pedro do. There is chemistry between the two of them, and they’re really hard characters. It’s really important to have that lightness on the other side. She’s always needling him, trying to get a smirk, a smile, or approval. She’s created this really incredibly well-balanced character.
Spencer Williams: Yeah, I mean, she’s incredible at this role. I am so happy for Bella, and you’re right; the two of them together are such a great pairing. I wouldn’t say one is more valuable than the other. They both bring so much energy to the show.
Cynthia Summers: That’s key because the story really is about the two of them and the empowerment they give each other. That makes them a successful pair in their journey as characters in this story. *laughs* I’m just looking at this picture of the two of them, Bella and Anna, standing in the water. That was an amazing day in the hotel lobby. Of course, that’s all real. Everything on the show is real and practical, but that was real. The water was just awful looking!
Spencer Williams: I imagine it was also a costume nightmare! *laughs*
Cynthia Summers: Everything on the show was! “Okay, today they’re going to be wading through this green, slimy water.” You’re just like, “cool”. *both laugh*
Spencer Williams: So when you have these shirts, like the palm tree shirt, is that something that you follow closely and have made?
Cynthia Summers: Yes, we created the palm tree shirt, and it also went through a journey. Initially, it wasn’t as worn down as depicted in the game illustration, but we intentionally worked towards that distressed look. We even made the long-sleeved gray undershirt. We aimed to match the game as closely as possible because it’s such an iconic look, and Ellie gains this shirt at a pivotal moment.
The significant moment occurs when they’re at Bill and Frank’s place, and they have access to a shower. It’s the first time they’ve had a chance to get clean and change clothes since being on the run. This marks a turning point for these characters after the events at Bill and Frank’s. So, placing the T-shirt here was perfect.
We tried to replicate the game’s design meticulously. Achieving the exact sunset graphic was challenging, and we had to make some adjustments. In the game image, the sun is slightly off-center to Ellie’s left, with a few seagulls on the upper left side. However, on camera, an off-center graphic can appear distracting, so we centered it more on Bella during filming to avoid any confusion about whether it was a mistake.
As for the seagulls, we tried to keep them, although they were getting close to her armpits during the fitting. It was crucial for us to preserve those details because they were part of the authenticity we were aiming for in replicating the game’s design.
Spencer Williams: In episodes four and five, we were introduced to Henry and Sam, and for those familiar with the game, there might have been a hint of nervousness heading into these episodes. However, I appreciate the show’s approach in presenting slightly different versions of events compared to the game. In this case, I felt the characters of Henry and Sam were more fully developed compared to their counterparts in the game. The costumes brought them to life, adding depth and personality. The use of colors, especially against the backdrop of fire in these episodes, was striking. The vibrant hues and face paint added a unique dimension to their characters, enhancing the overall visual impact of the scenes.
Cynthia Summers: It was brilliant. This was a point that Craig Mazin kept emphasizing: he didn’t want to lose people in a colorless space. He wanted to ensure that there was color in the costumes. As you can see from the game, these two characters were depicted as very monochromatic and pale. We’re in winter in our story, much more than I think it was in the game. We had to keep our actors somewhat warm, and they needed to look like they fit in the environment they were in. That gave us license to add jackets and shirts, and they actually both have two layers on. I love their jackets because they have a little bit of a retro feeling, which is kind of fun and gives us, again, that sense of a suspended time frame that we’re living in, even though we know it’s 2023.
Spencer Williams: We also talked earlier about some of the background characters in the Kansas City scenes as well. I sensed an 80s vibe to some of their costumes.
Cynthia Summers: Yeah! There’s like an ’80s Eastern European sort of vibe. There was so much fun stuff. We had one guy in a T-shirt from The Sopranos, and he had this sort of tracksuit, like an ’80s sort of tracksuit, black, and he totally looked like a mobster. Things like that didn’t jump out at us but definitely made some impact if you happened to see them when you’re panning through the crowd in this really cool sort of way. But I digress. These two are amazing, and Keivonn Woodard is an amazing young man. They scoured all of America for this guy. They really did for this child because he is an actor who is deaf in real life, and it was his first job.
Spencer Williams: Wow. Wow. That’s amazing. He was so great!
Cynthia Summers: Craig was looking for an actor who was deaf to play this role because he wanted it to be a genuine, true representation. So we got Keivonn. What a great guy. And Lamar, too. Oh, that “one scene” was…
Spencer Williams: Yeah. Don’t even talk about it, Cynthia. I’m going to start crying again.
Cynthia Summers: I don’t want to give it away, but oh my gosh. The suspense and just the heartbreak…
Spencer Williams: Even though many of us knew it was coming, it still doesn’t feel any better when it actually happens…
Cynthia Summers: No, and to be honest, I watched a side-by-side of the scene from the game and our show; I liked the way that we played it out, to be honest.
Spencer Williams: I mean, it’s no contest for me. Much love to the game, but still…
Cynthia Summers: Here’s a perfect example of how we had an opportunity to make it a little more. It’s like when they redid the first game just to freshen it up and give it just a little bit more. We had the opportunity to do that, and it’s still saying the same thing.
Spencer Williams: I want to end by talking about episode three. Before the show even came out, you texted me, saying to look out for episode three because it is your favorite. Like most people, my life felt changed after watching this episode. It was brilliant. Of course, we’re talking about “Long, Long Time,” which features Bill and Frank. I love this episode. I’m actually kind of nervous about talking about it because I feel like every time I talk about it, I start crying. *laughs* Tell me about dressing Bill and Frank.
Cynthia Summers: So Bill in the game is a pretty fleshed-out character, and he’s very kind of militant-looking because he’s a bunker guy. Everybody left the town or was taken away from his town. It’s this beautiful little New England town, and he stayed, and he’s made it his own. He’s a survivalist and that needed to be reflected in his clothing. We wanted to honor the game look, but we also didn’t want him to be too militant-looking. When we go down into his bunker, we see all of everything on the wall, all the armament he has on the wall. It’s really kind of crazy with the TVs and the whole thing.
He carries a gun, and he’s got his bandolero with all the bullets and things like that, but he ends up coming off more softened and sort of more approachable-looking, of course, being influenced by Frank. We didn’t want to have to start way up here and have to end up down here. So, we made him a little more utilitarian as opposed to militant.
And then, of course, Frank shows up, and Murray Bartlett, what a dreamboat to work with. He came in, and a lot of his fitting was done in a wheelchair because he winds up in a wheelchair. We actually had one, so we could see how things were gonna sit. We needed to be able to show that his body was falling apart and he was becoming thinner with his ailment. When sitting in a chair, we wanted to make sure his knees were more accentuated by his clothing. He probably would be wearing sweatpants or something soft because it’s hard for him to get dressed. There was no zippers. The collar of his shirt looks larger to show that maybe he’s lost a lot of weight. Of course, makeup helped a lot, but it was an amazing love story.
We shot all of our episodes out of order, so we started in Boston, and I can’t remember when we shot this one. We shot five at the very end. So you don’t really know where everything’s going to land when the season’s put together in its finality. You have a good idea, but they may move some stories around a little bit. Putting this story in Episode 3 after going through 20 years, starting off in Austin, Texas, then winding up in Boston, and everything that has happened, and everything’s falling apart. To stop for a minute and see this couple, how they’ve survived this pandemic, and where they’ve landed in the world. It was just such a beautiful moment. It was just, and the connection with the green flannel and the… I mean, come on, Craig Mazin and his writing team are just geniuses. The placement of this episode couldn’t have been better.
Spencer Williams: I honestly can’t say enough good things about this episode. Then for my final question… Let’s put this to rest. I got so many questions about the flannel in preparation for this conversation. Is Joel wearing Frank’s shirt at the end of episode three… was that intentional?
Cynthia Summers: Yes, and yes. Definitely, it’s also a beat from Craig, just like Blues Clues and some other things that you’ll see in this. Frank and Joel weren’t friendly; in fact, Joel had just met Frank when he got there, and he knew Bill. Joel doesn’t trust anybody, and rightly so, but I think it showed the humanity within Joel to make the choice of honoring Frank and Bill by wearing this flannel shirt that was the final thing that he saw Frank in. I think that was the motivation behind him wearing this shirt.
Spencer Williams: Cynthia, it was beautiful. There was just so much emotion and storytelling happening in this moment.
Cynthia Summers: It was really beautiful.
Spencer Williams: Cynthia, I really, truly loved the costumes on the show. I think what you and your team did was genius. Video game adaptations don’t always go well. It’s just kind of a weird thing and I really feel like this is the first time I’ve watched a video game adaptation be done the right way. I just want to ask you, what does this project mean to you?
Cynthia Summers: When we all start a project, we have a perceived notion of what it’s going to be, how it’s going to turn out. Often it doesn’t, or it segues in a different direction. And I think that until we were done, until there was some space from it, like a month away from production, and started to see what the scenes were starting to look like as a whole—with the music, with everything altogether—I really had a new appreciation for beauty and simplicity if you will.
How all the departments worked together, and just the beauty of it all. The adaptation I think, is brilliant. Obviously, it’s doing so well. But I’m very proud of it. I was a little bit surprised because, as I said earlier, this show was not really about the costume as a standalone feature in any kind of way. It was more about collaboration and creating this beautiful world so we could watch the story, and not necessarily, I mean, you’re blown away by the scenery, the sets, and maybe by the costumes, but it’s really about the whole effect.
I’m very proud of this production for that. Right from the storytelling, right from the top on down, and everyone in between. It’s beautiful. I mean, it’s really beautiful.
Spencer Williams: As an audience member, I have to say the thing I appreciate about it the most, as you kind of touched on earlier, is the humanity of it, just the practicality of it. It makes you excited about TV, and film, knowing that all of this is practical makeup. It’s not a lot of visual effects. It’s real sets, real people, real actors, and real costumes. It’s incredible. It just makes you excited about the industry as a whole. And you’re a part of that. Your team’s a part of that. I just have to say, I think what you’ve done with this show is amazing. I’m so personally happy for you and your team, and I am proud to call you a friend. Please come back anytime you have something coming out. I just love talking to you. Thank you.
Cynthia Summers: I love talking to you as well. I’m glad we did this.
