
Warning: spoilers ahead for The Last of Us episode 5.
The Last of Us, the video game-inspired TV programme, has been filled with moments that have moved people all around the world to tears since its inception.
One of the most horrifyingly terrible sequences in the post-apocalyptic series thus far occurs at the conclusion of episode 5, when Henry (Lamar Johnson) shoots his own brother Sam (Keivonn Woodard) dead after realising his younger sibling has gotten infected, before turning the pistol on himself.
During a recent interview with Metro.co.uk, Lamar discussed what it was like to shoot the heartbreaking conclusion to their characters’ journeys, noting how ’emotionally taxing’ it was behind the scenes.
Given everything they’d been through – Henry becoming a collaborator with FEDRA in order to find a cure for his brother’s leukaemia, making enemies with a revolutionary movement in the process, surviving a swarm of infected and teaming up with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the hope of escaping Kansas City – Henry and Sam’s deaths felt even more heartbreaking.
‘It was a very emotionally draining day. We shot that scene for most of the day, so we worked on that scene for hours. So imagine having to be in that emotional space for an extended period of time – it was tough,’ he shared.
‘But again, I think as actors, it’s our job to try and emulate the truth as much as we possibly can. So in that moment, I just tried to be as truthful as I could.’
Before filming Henry and Sam’s deaths, he and Jeremy Webb – who directed episodes four and five – were left ‘sobbing’ while seeing Keivonn and Bella act out the scene in which Sam admits to Ellie that he’s been bitten and she attempts unsuccessfully to heal him with her blood.
‘We were watching on the monitor the Ellie and Sam scene, when Sam shows her that he was bit. That scene is so very touching, we were both crying at the monitor,’ he recounted.
‘They shot that scene the day before I had to do my scene. So we’re watching that scene, we’re crying, and in the back of my mind I’m like, this scene is going to be intense. Because I’m already crying just watching this. This is going to be very intense.’
When it’s revealed that Sam mutated after becoming infected, the young boy assaults Ellie, who breaks into Joel and Henry’s room while fighting him off.

Henry is at a lost for words at first, warning Joel to leave Sam alone before shooting his infected brother dead in a split-second decision.
He then says the heartbreaking words, ‘What did I do?’
‘That scene, Henry is just in shock. He’s just in complete shock. I don’t think there’s one emotion that I can pinpoint except for just shock,’ Lamar said.
‘There’s so much that washes over him in that moment, especially because of all that they just went through, what Henry has gone through to protect him. He’s gone through so much to keep him safe, for it to end the way that it ended by my hand. It’s a tough thing to stomach.’

Lamar noticed how Henry’s reason to continue living in their miserable world in order to protect his brother paralleled the tale of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) in episode three, when Bill tells Frank after 16 years together, ‘You were my purpose.’
‘Sam was his purpose to live,’ the actor stated. ‘I think with [Bill and Frank’s] episode, there was one line that was really beautiful to me, when he said, “I wasn’t afraid until you showed up.”
‘That line hits home because it’s like, if you didn’t show up, I would not have anything to care for, except for myself. You’ve given me fulfilment, you’ve given me this sense of purpose, that I’m supposed to protect you. Now I have a job to do, as opposed to just living in this world aimlessly.
‘So when Sam is gone, his purpose is gone. His will to live is gone. I don’t think he could stomach living in a world, especially as brutal as this one, without Sam.’

Lamar worried on Henry’s life if he had opted to continue without Sam, recalling how he ‘cried’ while piecing that moment together on set.
‘I don’t think he could have existed in this world without him. I think he just would have been miserable, jaded. He would have thought about Sam every day, every waking moment,’ he theorised.
‘He might have become super careless, maybe got bitten. His will to remain safe and escape would have dwindled a little bit.’
‘It was out of love,’ The Hate U Give and The Next Step star continued, summarising Henry’s actions in his final moments. He made that choice. It wasn’t because of someone else’s hand, an infection, or being bitten. It was his decision. He took the decision to join his brother in that moment.’
The Last of Us is available to watch on Sky and NOW, with new episodes released on Mondays.