Apple Cider Vinegar’s Kaitlyn Dever wants to make The Last of Us fans ‘proud’ with season two role

Kaitlyn Dever, the star of limited series Apple Cider Vinegar, is gearing up to join the cast of The Last of Us season two. And she wants to make fans of the series “proud” of her divisive character. 

Season one of post-apocalyptic drama focused on Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively, navigating a country overrun by zombie-causing fungus. But The Last of Us season two is set to explore Dever’s character. 

In The Last of Us Part 2, the game that season two of the show will be based on, much-hated character Abby causes chaos in the lives of Joel and Ellie.

After Dever was confirmed to be taking on the controversial role of Abby Anderson, it was revealed that the Dopestick star had to hire “extra security” to combat fan-driven abuse. Employees at Naughty Dog, including director Neil Druckmann and voice actor Laura Bailey, were harassed and targeted with death threats in 2020 because of the fictional character’s actions in the video game on which the TV series is based.

Ahead of her appearance in season two, Dever told Screen Rant: “It’s hard not to see those things on the internet. It’s hard to stop myself looking at it every once in a while. And I want to do this character justice and make the fans proud, by bringing her to life.

“My main focus was just the collaboration between Neil and [co-creator] Craig [Mazin], and making sure I was getting to the core of who she is and what drives her and her emotional state: her anger, frustration and grief.

“I wanted to make sure that that was what I was focusing most of my energy on.”

Season two of The Last of Us is due to air on HBO Max, in the US, and on Sky Atlantic in the UK, from 13 April.

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• Nov 29 2023

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