She was taking a quick break in Los Angeles, but Kaitlyn Dever has spending a lot of time in Australia. Not only did she film her acclaimed performance as alternative health guru Belle Gibson in “Apple Cidear Vinegar” down under, but she’s in the middle of a “I can’t say a word” about her role in “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.” And while she’s up for serious and deserved Emmy nomination consideration for the former, it’s her role as Abby in “The Last of Us” season two that has viewers aflutter.
READ MORE: Pressing Emmy questions begin with “The Last of Us”
Speaking with The Playlist last week, Dever revealed that yes, she hadn’t been telling the truth in previous interviews about whether she’d be portraying the character in future seasons. She notes, “Sorry, my bad.” That being said, even though Abby is at the center of one of the most shocking moments in television history (assuming you didn’t play the game), she says game creator Neil Druckmann and series co-creator Craig Mazin essentially told her to stop playing the game.
“In my first meeting, Neil actually said you don’t need to finish the rest of the game because he very much wanted everybody to come into it with a fresh pair of eyes and didn’t want to focus too much on the game, and he wanted to allow everyone to have that kind of freedom, which I really appreciated,” Dever recalls. “But yeah, I was given a heads up about how soon that [big event] happens in the season, and in my first meeting with Craig and Neil, they took me sort of step by step through everything and Abby’s journey and what their plans were for season two.”
That was just a tidbit of the revelations in our interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Please note: There are spoilers regarding “The Last of Us” season two in the context of this conversation.
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The Playlist: I wanted to start with “The Last of Us” because it’s the most recent. Laura Bailey, the voice actress who had originated the character in the video game, experienced a lot of above and beyond fan reaction. Did that concern you at all about taking the role?
Kaitlyn Dever: Well, first off, yeah. I mean, I was very aware of Laura Bailey, and obviously her portrayal of Abby is so brilliant. Yes, of course I was aware of it. It was very much so on my mind. But think ultimately I had just hoped that people, viewers were able to separate real life person from character. And it’s awful. The things that happened with Laura after the game, it didn’t though affect my decision to do the job in any way. I felt very protected and welcomed by the last of a team, and I didn’t really feel like the role was too good and important, and I wanted to be a part of the world of the last of us so much that I play a tree in “The Last of Us.” So, I was just really excited to get to be a part of the world. And whatever happened after I realized it was sort of out of my control in some ways. But yes, I was certainly aware of it.
How soon did they let you know, “Oh, by the way, it’s this first two episodes and then Joel’s gone.” Many people who have played the game were expecting that they might try to draw out keeping Pedro’s character in the second season as long as possible. Were you surprised by how quickly it occurred in the context of the season?
No, because I was given a heads up in my first meeting, and I sort of just as a game player, I mean, I played the second game up until you start, I guess, after the killing of Joel, I got into playing as Abby for a little bit. I mostly stopped because I’m horrible at playing games and really bad at it. And then it just got to the point where all my dad did was laugh at me every time I die. And I was like, “All right, I can’t do this anymore.” And also in my first meeting, Neil actually said you don’t need to finish the rest of the game because he very much wanted everybody to come into it with a fresh pair of eyes and didn’t want to focus too much on the game, and he wanted to allow everyone to have that kind of freedom, which I really appreciated. But yeah, I was given a heads up about how soon that happens in the season, and in my first meeting with Craig and Neil, they took me sort of step by step through everything, and Abby’s journey and what their plans were for season two. So, it wasn’t that much of a shock to me, no.
Did they preface it as, “You’re going to need to be very available for season three”? Was it part of the pitch?
Yes. I don’t know what their plans specifically are for season three, but I know now that it’s public knowledge that it will be centered around Abby. That is what they told me in my meeting. It’s funny because in other interviews, people asked me, “What do you know about season three?” I’m like, “They didn’t tell me anything.” And now that the news is out, like so, they told me that it’s an Abby season, so I did know. Sorry, sorry, too. My bad.
For your own calendar, is it shooting relatively soon? Do you even know?
Actually, I don’t know. They haven’t given me any service start date yet.
For “Apple Cider Vinegar,” I binged it in January, and I remember watching, wondering how daunting was it for you to do an Australian accent that would not get Australian people upset?
Oh my God, that’s all I thought about. That feeling never went away. It still isn’t gone. It still is like I still don’t believe people. I’m actually back in Australia now, and people are still telling me they watched “Apple Cider Vinegar” and they thought my accent was good. I still am like, “You’re lying. I don’t believe you.” But I know that fear was so real, I was so nervous. It was very confusing for me because as much as I scared as I was to do the role, I was also extremely excited and also very honored that the team at See-Saw wanted me to even do it. Because most of the time, you have to at least prove yourself at least once, or prove that you have done accent work even at all. I mean, I’ve done a lot of southern accents in my life, but that’s not even close to what the Australian accent is. So, I was questioning why they even came to me with that role. I was like, “Did you guys send this to the wrong email? Because this is an Australian lady and I am definitely not Australian, and I’ve never done the accent before.” They really put their trust in me in a way that I have never really experienced before. And I think because of that trust that they were putting in me, I think it was just even more pressure that was added to taking on that role because I’m like, “O.K., well, they think I can do it, but I don’t know if I can.” I just became super obsessed with getting it right. I did three months of prep work with a dialect coach before we started shooting, and just getting those “no’s” down and the no was really the hardest thing to tackle. All of the o’s in the Australian accents are definitely not at all like the American accent. So, I just became obsessed with it, and I just needed to surround myself with the accent at all times. I was the only American on this job. There were no other Americans, so I had the accent in my ear all the time. And then when I got home to my apartment, I didn’t want it to be silent. So, I had the Australian news going 24/7.
Oh, sh**.
So I could hear it always. I mean, there are so many kinds of Australian accents, but even just getting the gist of the sound and getting it going in my mouth was definitely something I wanted to do. But yeah, I had an amazing dialect coach, Jenny Kent. I couldn’t have done it without her at all.