If you’ve been following The Last of Us Season 2 on HBO, you should know who Abby is by now – and you probably also have some strong feelings when it comes to her by now.
Thanks to HBO, we had the opportunity to talk to Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby in The Last of Us Season 2 and ask her what it’s like to step into the shoes of one of the most controversial video game characters out there and bring her to life.
Photo from HBO
It turns out that Kaitlyn and her dad were big fans of the video game and truly bonded over it, but she admits that she didn’t continue playing the second game because Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the creators of the show, wanted her to focus on the script and creating the character from the ground up instead so that it’s “fresh and different.”
Fully aware of all of the comments that were thrown at Laura Bailey for voicing the character in the video game, Kaitlyn admits, “I was certainly aware of it going into it, but it was in no way going to stop me from taking on this role.” If anything, Kaitlyn saw The Last of Us Season 2 as a challenge.
“I really felt like what was most important was the job and doing the work,” she explains. “Whatever happens after that, I don’t really have control over. All I have control over is giving my 100% effort to this character and creating who that is with Neil and Craig. That’s what was most important to me.”
Of course, there was a lot of pressure for Kaitlyn to join the cast as well. After all, the franchise is much-loved, and Season 1 experienced huge success. “I felt like it’s definitely a big role to take on, and I felt like I really had pretty big shoes to fill just because of the nature of the character, the nature of the show,” she reveals.
“The nature of the world of The Last of Us is just fast-paced and tense and just jarring and shocking in so many ways, but I did feel confident because of the confidence that Neil and Craig had in me in taking on this role. I had to just trust that they really wanted me to be here.”
Above all, Kaitlyn is proud to be taking on the role of Abby in The Last of Us Season 2 – and with her cold and cunning take so far, she really shines. “It’s a real thrill to get to take on this woman and this role, really just exciting to get to dive deep into the bones of who she is and what drives her anger and her rage,” she beams. “It’s all new for me, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m enjoying the time.”
“It was so important [to be part of The Last of Us Season 2] because I did share that time with my dad and we did sit down together and played The Last of Us after dinner a lot of nights at home,” she reminisces. “That was about 10 years ago when I played the first game.”
“To have this come back into my life in this way was a really big deal and meant a lot to me and made me really think about what’s meant to be in your life will be in your life. You just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. It really felt like [The Last of Us Season 2] was always supposed to be in my life in some way, and that feels surreal.”
The Last of Us Season 2 consists of seven episodes, and can be watched on HBO as well as streamed on Max. New episodes will debut subsequent Mondays.
Have you been watching The Last of Us Season 2? Let us know what you think of it so far in the comments!
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