‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Casts Kaitlyn Dever as Abby

Kaitlyn Dever is joining “The Last of Us” Season 2 as Abby, HBO announced on Tuesday.

“Our casting process for Season 2 has been identical to Season 1: We look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material,” showrunner Craig Mazin said of the casting. “Nothing matters more than talent, and we’re thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro, Bella and the rest of our family.”

Mazin has previously stated that the second season of his HBO drama will deviate from the second game rather than strictly follow it. “Sometimes it will be different radically and sometimes it will be barely different at all, but it’s going to be different and it will be its own thing,” Mazin said. “It won’t be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil [Druckmann] and I want to make.” Regardless of how different the show may be from the original video games, Dever’s Abby will be a major character in the series.

Whereas “The Last of Us” only allows players to control Joel and occasionally Ellie, the story of 2020’s “The Last of Us Part II,” which is set five years after the first game, is fairly evenly split between Ellie and Abby. A soldier of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), Abby is desperate to avenge her murdered father. Abby initially starts as the antagonist of the second game, but as players spend more time with her and see her kindness toward two former members of a deadly religious cult, the character is supposed to become more empathetic. She was originally portrayed by Laura Bailey through both motion capture and voice acting.

Overall, Bailey’s performance won Best Performance at The Game Awards 2020 as well as Performer in a Leading Role at the 17th British Academy Games Awards. Previously Ashley Johnson, who voiced Ellie, took home the honor in both 2013 and 2014 for “The Last of Us” and “The Last of Us: Left Behind.”

Though Abby was well-received critically, the character became a sore spot for fans of the video game series. The onslaught became so severe that some fans even sent Bailey death threats online. This distaste from certain fans came from both the actions Abby takes in the game and her muscular physique.

Dever is best known for starring in the comedy “Booksmart” alongside Beanie Feldstein. She also starred in Destin Daniel Cretton’s indie movie “Short Term 12” as Jayden, alongside Merritt Weaver in Netflix’s “Unbelievable,” and as Loretta McCready in FX’s “Justified.” In 2023, Dever starred in the sci-fi horror film “No One Will Save You.”

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