The Last of Us actress Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Ticket to Paradise) seems to be getting backlash for her season two character ahead of her debut. According to Deadline, Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus, Madame Web) revealed in an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Dever needed extra security on set because of fans who hate her character’s video game counterpart, Abby Anderson.
“There’s so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person,” said Merced. “Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this.”
In the 2020 video game that The Last of Us season two is based on, Abby serves as an antagonist to Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, Hilda), and Joel, played by Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Gladiator II). Some fans have expressed hate for the character due to her actions in the story, and some because of her looks and the false assumption that she is transgender. As for criticism of Dever herself, some have expressed concern that the actress isn’t muscular enough for the role.
Merced defended Dever, saying, “Kaitlyn is such a cool person who does not get phased by things. She really had her head in the right place, and also is going through a lot personally right now. It’s devastating to see, but also give her the damn Emmy, honestly. I’m so excited for people to see how incredibly well Bella and Kaitlyn did on this.”
Merced joined the season two cast to play Dina, Ellie’s love interest from the game. Other newcomers this season include Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction, The Batman), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone), Ariela Barer (Ladyworld, Marvel’s Runaways) and Young Mazino (Beef, Trinity’s Triumph). While no official release date has been announced yet, season two of The Last of Us is set to premiere on Max sometime in 2025.