What does Kaitlyn Dever’s casting mean for the future of The Last of Us? Here's what we know

Kaitlyn Dever’s addition to The Last of Us Season 2 as Abby came as a surprise to most of the fans of the show. Comparing the version of Abby in the video game and the version announced for the adapted HBO show, fans were disappointed, to say the least.

However, Kaitlyn Dever proved these assumptions wrong with her phenomenal performance in the second season of the HBO show. She had one of the most controversial positions on the show, and she performed it with precision and perfection. Abby’s grief and revenge couldn’t have been better portrayed by anybody else, and this has resulted in the excitement for the next season increasing tenfold.

The end of the second season, along with the creators’ comments, revealed that the third season has already been renewed. It will be from Abby’s perspective during the days that Ellie spends in Seattle. It will set up a convergence in the fourth and final season. Kaitlyn Dever as Abby for the third season might be an extremely great choice for the HBO show. Here’s what Kaitlyn Dever’s casting means for the future of The Last of Us.

Kaitlyn Dever as Abby for the hit HBO show, The Last of Us

Abby is one of the most hated characters in the video game universe. There aren’t many characters who’ve come close to the rage that Abby elicited in the players of the game. So, when Kaitlyn Dever was cast for this role in The Last of Us, she was aware that it was going to be extremely challenging. She revealed in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter:

"I knew what she did, and I knew a lot about it before signing on, and that was in no way going to stop me from playing her because I knew at the end of the day she was a really complex and nuanced person."

However, this challenge became even more difficult when Dever had to deal with a personal tragedy—her mother’s passing. This happened only weeks before she was set to shoot Joel’s death scene in The Last of Us Season 2. Committed to her work, this wouldn’t stop Dever. Instead, she used her grief to dig deep for the portrayal of this dark character, as she revealed in a conversation with Walter Goggins (The White Lotus) for Vanity Fair:

"It’s probably the deepest I’ve ever gone for a character before. I’ve never played someone so rageful in my life. I went to darker places that I had never gone before, but what a gift that is to get to do that. I learn so much about myself on these jobs. It’s crazy. It’s like therapy that you can’t pay for. It blows my mind all the time, just how much I grow on these projects."

Dever has an extremely nuanced understanding of her character Abby in The Last of Us, and it is apparent in her portrayal. This makes it impossible for the audience to see Abby as just a villain and instead invites them to look at the layered character in all of her complexity.

"When I was actually starting to develop the character, I realized, if you look at all these characters, Abby’s not that different from a lot of the other characters in that world (The Last of Us). I focused on, what was the main focus of her emotional journey and how calculated she has been about this plan for five years, and how it’s really broken and riddled her with grief. That makes her physically intimidating."

"At the end of the day, I had to think about how sad she is. All she wants is to have this person back in her life. Grief is such an awful feeling, and you just want that feeling to go away so badly when you’re in the middle of it, and you’d do anything to not feel that way anymore."

Dever’s dedication to the nuanced portrayal of Abby came as a surprise to most viewers. She became a highlight of the season, even though she appears in fewer than half the episodes of The Last of Us Season 2.

Dever’s performance in The Last of Us Season 2 successfully connected with the audience. This has resulting in extreme excitement for Season 3, which is set to focus completely on Abby’s perspective.

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