Last night, Ashley Johnson won the BAFTA Award for Best Performance in a Video Game for reprising her role as Ellie in The Last of Us for its DLC prequel, Left Behind.
Taking to the stage at the Tobacco Dock in London to thank her co-star, Troy Baker and the creative team at Naughty Dog, she delivered a truly wonderful speech.
“I feel so lucky I got to play Ellie,” she said. “I’m so proud I got to play a strong female character who isn’t sexualised, or a damsel in distress, or even the opposite of that.
“Ellie is vulnerable and she’s kind and she’s loyal and she’s the girl who probably wouldn’t have fit in at school. And at times she was also allowed to be scared.”
And with a nod to Leonard Nimoy, who famously played Spock in Star Trek, Johnson closed out her speech.
“This is for the tomboys, and the misfits, and the weirdos, and the outcasts, and the ones who didn’t really fit in. You can sit at my table. Live long and prosper.”
Here’s the rest of the video game BAFTA results:
- Best Game in 2015: Destiny
- Artistic Achievement in 2015: Lumino City
- Game Innovation in 2015: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
- Audio Achievement in 2015: Alien: Isolation
- Mobile & Handheld in 2015: Monument Valley
- BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital in 2015: Chambara
- Multiplayer in 2015: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Music in 2015: Far Cry 4 – Cliff Martinez, Tony Gronick and Jerome Angelot
- British Game in 2015: Monument Valley
- Original Property in 2015: Valiant Hearts – Yoan Fanise, Paul Tumelaire and Simon Choquet
- Debut Game in 2015: Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
- Performer in 2015: Ashley Johnson The Last of Us: Left Behind (Ellie)
- Family in 2015: Minecraft: Console Editions
- Persistent Game in 2015: League of Legends
- Fellowship 2015: David Braben
- Game design in 2015: Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Sport in 2015: OlliOlli – John Ribbins, Simon Bennett and Tom Hegarty
- Story in 2015: The Last of Us: Left Behind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published March 13, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
