Storm Reid isn't concerned with homophobic The Last of Us fans: 'We are telling important stories'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 1, episode 6.

The homophobic backlash to episode 3 of HBO's The Last of Us, "Long, Long Time," was as predictable as it was disappointing. The love story of Nick Offerman's Bill and Murray Bartlett's Frank prompted some viewers, the ones upset over its depiction of a gay relationship, to review-bomb the hour of television on aggregation sites like Metacritic.

As her own featured episode approached, bringing with it more prominent queer representation, Storm Reid admits the inevitable homophobic response did cross her mind. However, it's not something the actress, 19, is concerned about.

"Like Bella said when episode 3 came out: If you don't like it, don't watch," Reid tells EW, referring to her costar Bella Ramsey's comments to GQ U.K. "We are telling important stories. We're telling stories of people's experiences, and that's what I live for. That's what makes good storytelling, because we are telling stories of people who are taking up space in the world."

Episode 7 of The Last of Us introduces Reid as Riley in an origin story of sorts for Ramsey's Ellie. Based on the events of Left Behind, a DLC released for 2013's The Last of Us video game, the episode flashes back in time to when Ellie was training to become a FEDRA soldier in the Boston QZ. Riley, her roommate and best friend, has been missing for several weeks when the episode begins, but she returns one night by sneaking through the window of Ellie's dorm room.

Riley, who we discover has joined the Fireflies and will soon be leaving Boston, wants to share one more special night with Ellie. They break into an abandoned mall and pal around on the carousel, the arcade, the "moving stairs," and the photo booth, culminating in Ellie and Riley's first kiss.

"It's 2023. If you're concerned about who I love, then I need you to get your priorities straight," Reid says of anyone upset by Ellie and Riley's relationship. "There's so many other things to worry about in life. Why are you concerned that these young people — or anybody — love each other? Love is beautiful, and the fact that people have things to say about it, it's just nonsense."

"Left Behind," like many episodes of The Last of Us, teases the tear ducts. Moments after their kiss, Riley promises Ellie that she won't leave with the Fireflies. She'll stay with Ellie in Boston. Then an Infected, woken by their night in the mall, attacks. The girls subdue it, but both have been bitten. Crying and a lot of rage ensues, but they eventually agree to sit with each other and wait until they both go mad from the infection. Viewers, however, know by this point that Ellie is immune, so she will be forced to watch the object of her affection turn into a monster.

The story is a pretty faithful adaptation of the Left Behind DLC. Reid, known for roles in Euphoria and Missing, says the episode wasn't about altering the character of Riley. "Maybe just adding a little bit more life to her, whether it was things that I said or the way that I moved or interacted with Ellie," she continues. "Basically how Riley took up space is what I wanted to try to hone in on the most. I think I did that just by stepping into her shoes and trying to become her and experience her given circumstance and not neglecting how I would feel in that situation."

She took some cues from Riley's costume, which is slightly different than it is in the game. There's some visual similarities between her and Marlene (Merle Dandridge), which doesn't feel like an accident. Marlene recruited Riley to join the Fireflies. It would make sense for this young girl to idolize her in some ways.

When asked about that aspect, Reid says, "I think the clothes definitely informed how Riley moved and I think it was a great reflection of her personality. She's a badass and she's gonna stand up for what she believes in and she is going to fight and she's going to take risks. She's living in this apocalyptic world, but she's still cool. She still has a swag about herself, and I love that."

Reid came into the world of The Last of Us with no knowledge of the games and their legacy. After reading the script, she looked up the source material and got the sense that this was something big. "I called my older brother who plays video games. I was like, 'Have you ever played this game?' He was like, 'Yeah, I know about this game,'" she recalls. "And then I told my friends on campus who are boys" — Reid attends the University of Southern California — "and they're like, 'Oh my God! That's my favorite game of all time.' I'm like, 'OK, this is something that I need to pay attention to.'"

More than that, it was the representation that attracted her to the show. "I'm not only representing women. I'm representing young Black women and I'm representing young queer women that are experiencing new feelings and new relationships," Reid says. "We are on the tightrope of a friendship and having a crush, or is it a crush? Is it just flirtatious energy? There's just so much that goes into the complexity of what the episode is. And furthermore, the complexity of what Ellie and Riley's relationship is I find just so beautiful."

That's why Reid is preemptively putting any kind of backlash out of her mind. "I'm sure people are gonna have things to say on Sunday," she says, "but I don't care because I'm proud of what we did and I'm proud of the story that we told and I'm proud of the people that we're representing."

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