The unsung star of The Last of Us Part II had to pretend to be a baby

Amy Johnston is carefully perched against the hip of her co-worker for the day, an animator by the name of Marianne Hayden. It’s a strange scene, to say the least: two grown women in a mismatched embrace, one of them decked out in a Tron-like suit fitted with bright orange and green panels. Johnston slowly wags her legs and rests her head on Hayden’s shoulder. “I loved it so much,” Johnston says. “It was very relaxing. It’s nice to be a baby.”

Johnston, an experienced stuntwoman, was helping animators for The Last of Us Part II capture movement for an in-game baby. Rather than suit up a real baby (just imagine the complications there), Hayden had asked Johnston to sub in. A little bit of quiet head bobbing, some long and curious stares —...

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