Ashley Johnson, who portrays Anna Williams, Ellie's mother, is the actress who voices and provides motion capture for Ellie in the game version.
Ashley Johnson watched some of Bella Ramsey's performance to match her mannerisms as Anna, and referred to her original combat style as Ellie for her fighting scene with an infected.
The production crew considered dressing Anna in pants but found a dress more logical; Ashley Johnson felt its bright colors reflected the character "holding onto the old world a little bit".
Merle Dandridge, who played Marlene in the games and the television series, found the cold open provided important context for the relationship between Marlene and Anna, and was happy to work alongside Ashley Johnson again. She tried to forget her performance in the game and focus on the contextual differences in Marlene's scenes with Joel, particularly noting the differences in the script and location.
Neil Druckmann was unable to explore Anna's story in the games but considered it personally important to include in the series; after the games release, he wrote a short story about Anna, which was later intended to be adapted into an animated or live action short film or released as downloadable content but it fell apart. Craig Mazin found the story "gorgeous" and upsetting and demanded it's inclusion in the series. Mazin and Druckmann simultaneously thought of casting Ashley Johnson they considered her inclusion important due to her relationship with the games. Director Ali Abbasi was hesitant about working with actors from the games he had also worked with Troy Baker, who played Joel in the games, in the previous episode as he feared it was gimmicky but found they added authenticity to the project.