The Last of Us Season 2's Abby, Kaitlyn Dever, Says It's 'Hard Not to See Those Things on the Internet'

Actress Kaitlyn Dever, who portrays Abby in the highly anticipated The Last of Us Season 2, has openly discussed the challenges of dealing with the internet's reactions to her character. Abby, a pivotal character in the series, has been a magnet for intense fan reactions, leading to a toxic environment where even Naughty Dog employees like Neil Druckmann and actress Laura Bailey have faced harassment, threats, and abuse. This toxicity has extended to Bailey's family, including her parents and her young son.

Recognizing the potential for escalated actions, HBO took the precaution of providing Dever with extra security during the filming of Season 2. Isabel Merced, who plays Dina, 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."

The Last of Us Season 2 Character Posters

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In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Dever addressed the anticipation surrounding her portrayal of Abby. She admitted, "Well, it's hard not to see those things on the internet. 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."

Despite the online noise, Dever's primary focus remains on the collaborative effort with Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, emphasizing her dedication to understanding Abby's core motivations and emotional depth. "But my main focus was just the collaboration between Neil and Craig [Mazin], 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 portray Abby differently from her video game counterpart. The show doesn't require the same level of physical distinction between Abby and Ellie as the game did. Druckmann explained to Entertainment Weekly that Dever's Abby won't need to bulk up because the focus is more on drama than on the mechanical differences between characters. "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."

He further elaborated, "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."

Craig Mazin added his perspective, highlighting an opportunity to explore a more vulnerable Abby whose strength lies in her spirit rather than her physical prowess. "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."

Mazin's mention of "now and later" likely alludes to HBO's plans to extend the story of The Last of Us Part 2 over multiple seasons, unlike Season 1, which covered the entire first game in one season. With more story to tell, Mazin and Druckmann have designed Season 2 to have a "natural breakpoint" after seven episodes, setting the stage for potential future seasons.