HBO’s The Last of Us delivered one of the most shocking TV moments this year with Episode 2, Through the Valley. For the general audience who hadn’t lived through the event the first time around in The Last of Us Part 2, it was an incredible surprise, similar to Ned Stark’s death in Game of Thrones. Abby’s original actor, Laura Bailey, recently discussed what it was like working on the game and finding out the truth about that scene mirrored in the episode. Warning: Spoilers ahead.
While there were some theories that the scene wouldn’t take place until Season 3, showrunner Craig Mazin didn’t want to torment viewers who knew what was coming. Talking to Vulture, Bailey talks about having to film the scene with Troy Baker and what the role of Abby has given her career.
“I remember, on that day, looking in Troy’s eyes as we were doing that scene. It’s a memory I’ll never forget. And the hardest part of it was when Ashley would enter the scene. I was completely focused on Troy, and from behind me, all I could hear was Ashley’s wracking sobs,” she said. “I knew the camera was going to be filming from behind me, so I was just sobbing, because of the emotions of the scene. Knowing what I had just done, and taken away from her.”
When asked if she had expected the backlash it did, she explained she knew it would be controversial, but wanted to give it her all.
“I knew it was going to be intense. I knew it was going to be controversial. But I was still so excited to share it with the world, because I poured so much into that performance, and I was really proud of it,” she continued. “So to get that reaction right away was really tough. I don’t think anybody predicted what the fallout would be from it. I was not prepared. But I don’t think anybody on the team was.”
As for the legacy of the character, Bailey won several awards for the performance. In the five years since The Last of Us Part 2, she received death threats from maligned fans, but also found people who understand the character and her personal story for vengeance.
“I didn’t expect that when all of this happened. I didn’t expect to be in a place where I would get to meet people who loved her story,” she said. “It is so rare to get to play, and embody, and collaborate on a character like Abby. It is a gift to get to work on something like that, and I’m so proud and grateful.”
Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby on the show, also recently revealed that she had lost her mom right before they had shot that scene. The grief put the actress in a “fog” of sorts, and she was given all the time she needed to grieve.
“I lost my mom two or three weeks before I actually shot this scene [on The Last of Us], and my mom’s funeral was three days before I did my first day,” Dever said. “So I was sort of in a fog. I was in a daze.”
With Episode 3 on the horizon, we’ll see how the town of Jackson reacts to the loss and what a quest for vengeance will cost.
