Kaitlyn Dever is bringing to live one of The Last of Us‘ great villains: Abby. In the game, she was the antagonist to Ellie. In the show, the first episode of Season 2 allowed us to meet a different Abby than we saw in the game. She was more human in her upset and you could tell that Dever’s approach to the character was less about making her a villain. Now, Dever is talking about how that was her goal with the character from the start.
In a chat with Elle magazine, Dever talked about trying to “humanize” Abby and make her less of a villainous character to Ellie. “I wanted a lot of the broken parts of Abby to show through in her eyes—I wanted to humanize her as much as I possibly could,” she told the outlet. “It’s easy to call Abby a villain because of how she presents herself in the world—her tough exterior,” she said about Abby. “But [she’s also] this raw, broken, vulnerable person. It’s important to see that.”
Dever went on to talk about how the key to Abby was to make her grief something that drives her every move. “Pain and grief and how it manifests itself—I think it’s really important to always show that in a raw way,” Dever told Elle. “If Abby’s experience makes someone feel a little more seen as they’re dealing with loss,” she added, “I think that’s a really good thing.”
Kaitlyn Dever Was Almost a Completely Different Character in The Last of Us
Fans of The Last of Us know that there was a time when fans thought that she was going to end up playing Ellie. The role ultimately went to Bella Ramsey (who does an incredible job) but during the press tour for Season 2 of the series, Dever with Entertainment Weekly. There, she talked about how she met with Neil Druckmann as they were making the game and shared how she really wanted the role. But she ultimately ended up in the Last of Us universe anyway.
“I would literally meet Neil [Druckmann] at Naughty Dog and he would walk me around and show me how they created the game,” she said. “They were actually making the second game when I was there.” She went on to talk about not getting the role. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh well, I really wanted that thing and it didn’t happen.’ But I believe that the things that are meant to be in your life will be in your life,” Dever said. “I always thought about The Last of Us…. I would say it was pretty surreal when it came back around in my life in a different way.”
You can see Dever in Season 2 of The Last Of Us.
(via Elle)
