Kaitlyn Dever on Abby Role: 'Hard to Avoid Internet Buzz'

Actress Kaitlyn Dever, set to portray Abby in HBO's highly anticipated The Last of Us Season 2, has openly discussed the challenges of tuning out the internet's reaction to her character. Abby, a pivotal figure in the series, has been at the center of significant online toxicity, with some fans expressing their discontent by harassing Naughty Dog employees, including Neil Druckmann and actress Laura Bailey, who voiced Abby in the video game. The harassment extended to threats and abuse directed at Bailey, her parents, and her young son.

Aware of the potential backlash, HBO took precautionary measures during the filming of Season 2, providing Dever with additional security. Isabel Merced, who plays Dina in the series, highlighted the absurdity of the situation, stating, "There's so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder: not a real person."

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In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Dever admitted the difficulty of ignoring online chatter about her role. "Well, it's hard not to see those things on the internet," she said. "It's hard not to stop myself from looking at it every once in a while, especially going into this, for sure. And I want to do this character justice and make the fans proud by bringing her to life in this kind of way."

Dever emphasized her commitment to understanding Abby's emotional depth, focusing on her collaboration with Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin. "But my main focus was just the collaboration between Neil and Craig, and making sure I was really getting to the core of who she is and what drives her and her emotional state; her anger and her frustration and her grief and all of that. I wanted to make sure that that was what I was focusing most of my energy on."

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Last month, Druckmann revealed that the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us Part 2 would not portray Abby as the muscular character seen in the game, as her role in Season 2 does not require the same physicality. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Druckmann and Mazin explained that Dever did not need to bulk up for the role because Abby's physical distinction from Ellie was less crucial in the TV series.

"We would've struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role," Druckmann said. "In the game, you have to play both [Ellie and Abby] and we need them to play differently. We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around, and Abby was meant to play more like Joel in that she's almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things. That doesn't play as big of a role in this version of the story because there's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it."

Mazin added, "I personally think there is an amazing opportunity here to delve into someone who is perhaps physically more vulnerable than the Abby in the game, but whose spirit is stronger. And then the question is: 'Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest?' That's something that will be explored now and later."

The mention of "now and later" likely alludes to HBO's plans to extend The Last of Us Part 2 beyond a single season. Unlike Season 1, which covered the entire first game, Season 2 will adapt only part of the second game's story. Mazin has indicated that Season 2 will conclude after seven episodes, setting up a "natural breakpoint" for potential future seasons.