"Was actually my dad’s thoughts": Kaitlyn Dever opens up about how she landed her The Last of Us part while battling personal struggles

Kaitlyn Dever walked straight into the role of Abby on The Last of Us, carrying the weight of her real-life grief. Weeks after losing her mother, and only days after her funeral, she was on set as Abby in The Last of Us, tasked with pulling off a character that would shatter both fans and characters alike.

But the twist? The words that carried her through weren’t hers at all; it was actually her father's that gave her more faith. That small, grounding tether became her way to survive the heaviest moment of her career.

Opening up on how she landed Abby's part on the show, Dever tells Deadline,

"It was actually my dad’s thoughts and opinions on Abby that were way stronger than mine when I first got a call about having a meeting with Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin to play Abby. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this, but earlier on, before I even got that call about the potential of playing Abby, it was my dad saying, “Man, that would be so cool if you could play that girl Abby.” And I was like, “I don’t know.”"

She follows it up by talking about how she continued to work hard on the show, despite her personal struggles and the criticism she faced from fans, as she adds,

“There was a moment where I was barely able to go to work, and there was a moment where I felt like I couldn’t do it. And I think I channeled my mom in many ways to sort of push through and do it for her. And I think that that’s the sole reason why I was able to do it.”

Everything we know about The Last of Us season 3

HBO’s The Last of Us has become one of television’s most celebrated video game adaptations, thanks to its gripping storytelling and powerhouse performances from Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Kaitlyn Dever, and Catherine O’Hara.

After dominating awards season with eight Primetime Emmys and drawing in an average of 37 million viewers during its second season, the series left fans hanging on a brutal cliffhanger, and season 3 promises to shift the spotlight in surprising ways.

We might get to learn more about Abby, as The Last Of Us showrunner Craig Mazin told Entertainment Weekly,

"There is another side to this story that we have yet to really delve into. There's no question that Abby is the hero of her story. Kaitlyn Dever is the hero of a story, always. If you have a Kaitlyn Dever, you use a Kaitlyn Dever. So I think where we go next, all I can say is it will always be centering somebody, whether it's Ellie and Dina, or whether it's Abby and Abby's relationship with Owen or new relationships."

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The cast lineup looks stacked once again: Bella Ramsey will return as Ellie, Kaitlyn Dever takes Abby into uncharted emotional territory, and familiar faces like Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna, and Jeffrey Wright are all expected back. And despite Joel’s death, don’t count Pedro Pascal out; both Mazin and Druckmann have hinted that flashbacks may bring him back in surprising ways.

The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

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