The Last Of Us' Anna Torv Imagined Tess' Infection Scene Playing Out Much Differently

"The Last of Us" continues to shock audiences, and the second installment was packed to the brim with surprises, including the reveal that Anna Torv's character Tess was infected. The scene ended up causing quite a stir among devastated fans of the HBO series who were not expecting the distressing ordeal to go down in the tragic manner it did. And even the actress was a bit astonished at how the sequence played out when the time came to film it.

"Infected" didn't hesitate to offer viewers a multitude of other startling revelations, such as the origin of the mass fungal infection in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the live-action debut of the menacing Clickers. But while many would agree there was no shortage of chilling moments littered throughout the well-received entry (via Variety), some would probably argue that the most impactful moment came when an infected Tess sacrifices herself to save Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) from a horde of infected. After receiving a disturbing kiss goodbye, she blows up the fungus hivemind's infected minions. And just like that, Tess was no longer one of "The Last of Us."

Tess' final scene is as tense as it is dreadful and further demonstrates the severity of the threat that the infected pose. While it was an effective sequence that garnered the attention of viewers and incited an emotional response, the entire affair went down much differently than the actress Anna Torv had expected.

During the "Inside The Episode" featurette that aired after the second episode of "The Last of Us" (via Twitter), Anna Torv discussed how she was taken aback when it came time to shoot Tess' death sequence, as she had pictured it going much differently when she first read the script. "I had imagined the scene was gonna be very different to the way it actually turned out," she said. "I thought it was gonna be much slower, and I thought it was gonna be like this magnetic kind of pull." With a laugh, she added, "And then when we came to do it, I don't know, it was just so not what I had thought it was gonna be." 

The actress wasn't the only one expecting something different when it came time for Tess to die. In the video game, FEDRA soldiers, instead of the infected, lead to Tess's sacrifice, and fans were split on the major change to her fate. While there were some differences from the original story, Torv claims they ultimately didn't veer too far away from the source material. "With any good story and well-drawn character, you'll end up sticking pretty close to it, because that's the story and that's who you're playing," Torv said in an interview. "But ... ultimately, Tess is Tess." Her death may cause debate, but there's no denying that Torv's turn as Tess helped set the stage for what is shaping up to be a pretty entertaining first season of "The Last of Us."