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 plays Abby in HBO's highly anticipated Season 2 of *The Last of Us*, recently opened up about the challenges of portraying such a controversial character. She admitted to the difficulty of resisting the urge to check online reactions, saying, "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." Dever's portrayal of Abby has stirred significant online discourse due to the character's polarizing actions in the original game.

The character Abby has been a focal point of intense fan reactions, with some of the backlash spilling over into real-life harassment. Naughty Dog employees, including co-creator Neil Druckmann and actress Laura Bailey, have faced threats and abuse, extending even to Bailey's family. This toxicity led HBO to take additional security measures for Dever during the filming of Season 2. Isabel Merced, who plays Dina in the series, highlighted the absurdity of the situation, noting, "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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Despite the online noise, Dever's primary focus remains on delivering a faithful and compelling portrayal of Abby. In an interview with ScreenRant, she expressed her dedication to the role, stating, "I want to do this character justice and make the fans proud by bringing her to life in this kind of way. 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."

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Last month, Neil Druckmann discussed the adaptation of Abby's character for the HBO series. He revealed that the show's version of Abby wouldn't be as physically imposing as in the game, as the narrative focus shifts more toward drama than the mechanical distinctions required in the video game. "We would've struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role," Druckmann said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "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."

Co-showrunner Craig 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." This statement hints at HBO's plans to extend the narrative of *The Last of Us Part 2* beyond a single season, with Season 2 designed to conclude at a "natural breakpoint" after just seven episodes, setting the stage for potential future installments.