The Last of Us season 2 may have found its Abby. Kaitlyn Dever, who was linked to playing Ellie years prior to the casting of Bella Ramsey, could be joining the HBO show as the controversial antagonist.
Jeff Sneider of the Insneider – who has a fairly solid track record for such scoops – reports Dever is "in talks" to play Abby, the musclebound Washington Liberation Front who provoked the ire of the internet after you-know-what in The Last of Us Part 2. We won't spoil it here, but if you know, you know.
Prior to the SAG-AFTRA strikes (which have now ended), The Last of Us series co-creator Craig Mazin hinted to The Hollywood Reporter that the role was filled – but some might "disagree" with the choice.
"Look, Abby was the first role that we wanted to tackle. We've got a pretty good track record of making major cast announcements and people going, 'Really?' which will probably continue. So people may disagree, but I think we got it right so far and the audience seems to feel we got it right," Mazin said.
This isn’t the first time Dever, who made her name with Booksmart, has been part of the conversation surrounding the Naughty Dog adaptation. Originally a frontrunner and major fancasting favorite for Ellie, Neil Druckmann revealed Dever even went as far as doing a table read. However, the initial project didn’t get off the ground and, years later, Bella Ramsey was cast in the role.
HBO boss Casey Bloys has recently confirmed that The Last of Us season 2 is set to begin filming in early 2024 – so we’ll find out pretty soon if Kaitlyn Dever is on a collision course with a character she almost played.
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