Before HBO‘s “The Last of Us,” the Naughty Dog/PlayStation video game was being developed as a feature film at Sony‘s Screen Gems (announced in 2014 but would ultimately fizzle out by 2016), and according to season two actress Kaitlyn Dever, she nearly played that version’s Ellie (Bella Ramsey eventually taking that part) before being ultimately brought back to the series version by nabbing the Abby role.
While speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Dever recalled learning details about the second video game early on in its infancy as “The Last of Us Part II” wouldn’t release until 2020 and having to keep those secrets for years. Only to be asked to play that game’s antagonist, Abby, almost a decade later in the acclaimed series adaptation.
READ MORE: ‘The Last Of Us’: Co-Creator Craig Mazin Still Mulling Over When To End Series, Won’t Be Involved With Spinoffs
“I would literally meet Neil at Naughty Dog, and he would walk me around and show me how they created the game,” Dever told EW of her journey from the film to series. “And they were actually making the second game when I was there…I was seeing the first drawings of older Ellie, and he told me what happens, too,” Dever recalled, but added she hadn’t been told Abby’s name. “Talk about spoiler alerts… He did ask me, ‘Do you want to know what happens?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, tell me!’ So I’ve been keeping that secret for years.”
The show’s official synopsis via HBO:
In 2003, a parasitic fungal infection ravaged the planet, turning humans into violent creatures known as the Infected. Twenty years later, hardened survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie (Ramsey) to the rebel Fireflies. Season 2 of ‘The Last of Us’ picks up five years after the events of Season 1. Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.
Some other actors joining Dever as new additions to the cast of “The Last of Us” are Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction,” “The Batman”), Catherine O’Hara (“The Studio”), Danny Ramirez (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Captain America: Brave New World”), and Isabela Merced (“Alien: Romulus”).
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Audiences won’t have to wait too long to see these new episodes, as “The Last of Us” returns to HBO/Max on April 13.