Perhaps the biggest addition to the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us for its second season is Kaitlyn Dever in the role of Abby. One person who is particularly excited to see Dever play the role is Halley Gross, the co-writer of The Last of Us: Part II the game.
Speaking at the Season 2 premiere, Gross sang Dever’s praises, saying she predicts her performance as Abby will raise the bar for women on TV.
“We’re all curious to see how people are going to react to Abby. Kaitlyn Dever is a profoundly magnetic actress. She brings so much to Abby,” Gross told Variety. “I think she’s an incredible, complex depiction of female rage. But also just female passion. She is this dimensional female character that I think is going to broaden our idea of what women can do in TV.”
Abby is a central character to the story in The Last of Us: Part II, and is expected to play a similarly large role in the TV show. Abby is a highly divisive character, too; people sent death threats to the video game performer Laura Bailey and her newborn baby over the role.
Also at the premiere, Dever discussed her full-circle moment with The Last of Us. As many may recall, Dever was originally considered for the role of Ellie when The Last of Us was being conceived as a movie. She told The Hollywood Reporter that, while that didn’t work out, she is a big fan of Bella Ramsey’s performance as Ellie in the TV show and is happy herself to join the franchise as Abby.
“When it came back around into my life it almost felt like, ‘Oh, this was always meant to be in my life, just in a different way,'” she said.
The Last of Us Season 2 arrives Sunday, April 13, and there are seven episodes in all, down from nine for Season 1. In addition to Ramsey and Dever, Season 2 features Pedro Pascal as Joel, Young Mazino as Jesse, Isabela Merced as Dina, and Catherine O’Hara as Joel’s therapist, Gail. The Matrix actor Joe Pantoliano plays Eugene, a character referenced in the game but never seen.
