No Ellen Page lawsuit against Naughty Dog over The Last of Us was ever filed. The dispute over whether the character Ellie was modeled on Page (now Elliot Page) played out in a June 2013 Reddit comment and in press coverage, not in a courtroom, and Naughty Dog had already redesigned the character months before the game shipped.1Forbes. Ellen Page Says Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness for The Last of Us
What Page Actually Said
On June 23, 2013, about a week after The Last of Us launched on PlayStation 3, Page took part in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything.” Asked about the resemblance between Page and the teenage character Ellie, Page answered: “I guess I should be flattered that they ripped off my likeness, but I am actually acting in a video game called Beyond Two Souls, so it was not appreciated.”2Ars Technica. Ellen Page Thinks Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness for The Last of Us
The comment stung a bit more because of the corporate overlap. Page was the star of Beyond: Two Souls, a PlayStation 3 exclusive from Quantic Dream published by Sony, the same parent company that owned Naughty Dog. Page had done extensive performance-capture work for that game, and a resemblance at a sister studio was, at minimum, awkward.3The Hollywood Reporter. E3 2012: Ellen Page, PlayStation 3, Beyond Two Souls
Coverage at the time framed the remark as candor rather than a legal threat. A Forbes columnist noted Page was not “really throwing a fit about it, just giving her honest opinion.”1Forbes. Ellen Page Says Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness for The Last of Us
Naughty Dog Had Already Redesigned Ellie
When Ellie was first revealed in late 2011, observers immediately noticed the resemblance to Page. Eurogamer reported that the original design was “heavily modelled on” Page, and that the resemblance was “not a pleasant surprise” to the development team, who described it as a coincidence.4Eurogamer. The Last of Us Trailer Reveals Ellie Redesign
In May 2012, more than a year before release, Naughty Dog put out a new trailer with a noticeably different Ellie. She had lost her freckles and had a differently shaped nose. Creative director Neil Druckmann said the team “decided to modify Ellie’s model to better reflect Ashley’s personality, and also resemble a slightly younger teen more fitting to the story,” referring to voice and performance-capture actress Ashley Johnson.2Ars Technica. Ellen Page Thinks Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness for The Last of Us
After Page’s Reddit comment went viral, Druckmann posted on Twitter that “Ellie from The Last of Us was perfectly played by @TheVulcanSalute. No one could’ve done a better job.”5GameSpot. Ellen Page Says Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness Naughty Dog never issued a formal apology or directly addressed Page’s accusation. Co-director Bruce Straley said Ellie was younger than Page and had always been intended to resemble Johnson.6Game Developer. Ellen Page, Last of Us: What Is Appropriation of Likeness
Why the Case Never Went to Court
Multiple sources confirm the dispute never moved beyond public comments and indirect responses.1Forbes. Ellen Page Says Naughty Dog Ripped Off Her Likeness for The Last of Us Legal commentators who have looked at the situation as a hypothetical concluded that a suit would have faced significant hurdles.7Pace University Blog. A Hypothetical: What If Ellen Page Had Sued Naughty Dog
California law would have governed a case against Naughty Dog, which is based in Santa Monica. Under California Civil Code § 3344, anyone who knowingly uses another person’s name, voice, photograph, or likeness without consent for commercial purposes can be held liable, and the common-law right of publicity is broader still, protecting a person’s “identity” against unauthorized commercial exploitation.8Digital Media Law Project. California Right of Publicity Law
Video games, though, carry First Amendment protection. In Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that games share expressive qualities with books, plays, and films. Courts weigh publicity rights against free expression through the “transformative use test,” asking whether a character has been transformed enough to represent the creator’s own expression rather than trading on the celebrity’s identity.9Berkeley Technology Law Journal. The Right of Publicity: Likeness Lawsuits Against Video Game Companies
That test is where a Page claim would have struggled. Ellie is a fictional teenage survivor in a post-apocalyptic setting, not a portrayal of Page doing what Page is known for. When games have closely replicated real people doing their actual real-life activities, plaintiffs have won. The Third Circuit ruled against Electronic Arts in Hart v. EA, holding that digital college football players mirroring real athletes’ heights, weights, jersey numbers, and on-field roles were not transformative.10Arizona State Law Journal. Professional Athletes, Video Games: An Analysis of the Transformative Use Test
Where a character sits in a fictional world far removed from the plaintiff’s real life, courts have gone the other way. In Hamilton v. Speight, a court dismissed a claim by a former football player and wrestler who said the character Augustus Cole in Gears of War was based on him, reasoning that Cole fought alien creatures on a fictional planet in a fictional war and was sufficiently distinct.10Arizona State Law Journal. Professional Athletes, Video Games: An Analysis of the Transformative Use Test In Kirby v. Sega, a California court held that the character Ulala, allegedly inspired by singer Kierin Kirby, was protected because developers had added enough original creative elements to make the use transformative.11Fenwick & West. Kirby v. Sega of America Litigation Alert
The closest comparison is Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive, in which Lindsay Lohan claimed a character in Grand Theft Auto V used her likeness. In 2018, New York’s highest court dismissed the case, ruling that the character amounted to “indistinct, satirical representations of the style, look, and persona of a modern, beach-going young woman” and was not recognizable as Lohan.12FindLaw. Lohan v. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. A Page claim would have run into the same problem. Ellie is a fictional child in a zombie apocalypse, and Naughty Dog had already altered her face before the game shipped.
The Separate Beyond: Two Souls Dispute
A different Sony-related controversy involving Page is sometimes confused with the Ellie situation, but it was a distinct matter. Shortly after Beyond: Two Souls launched in October 2013, players using modified hardware found a fully nude character model of Page’s character, Jodie Holmes, hidden in the game’s code. Page had not provided body scans and had not authorized nudity.13Polygon. Beyond Two Souls Elliot Page Quantic Dream David Cage Leaked Sony emails later showed Page’s attorney explored legal options, and Business Insider reported it could find no record of any case actually being filed in Los Angeles courts.14Business Insider. Ellen Page Explored Legal Action Against Sony Over Nude Video Game Images That dispute concerned a different game, a different studio, and a different legal theory, and it did not become a filed lawsuit either.