The Last of Us‘ Kaitlyn Dever on Her Approach to Playing Abby

Last night, The Last of Us returned and viewers yet got to conscionable Abby, a important quality successful The Last of Us Part II video crippled who’s poised to beryllium conscionable arsenic important successful the HBO series. She’s played successful the amusement by Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You, Booksmart, Dopesick), who contempt being conscionable 28 has implicit a decennary of credits to her name—but she’s ne'er played a quality arsenic notorious arsenic Abby, thing she was good alert of erstwhile she took the role.

No spoilers arsenic to wherefore Abby’s spoken of successful specified hushed presumption among The Last of Us crippled fans—the TV amusement volition drawback up soon enough, presumably. But if you watched the play premiere, you cognize that this is simply a young pistillate with 1 of the oldest motivations successful storytelling: revenge.

“The mode into Abby is knowing however grief feels and however nonaccomplishment affects you, particularly successful the contiguous aftermath,” Dever told the Hollywood Reporter successful a caller interview. “There’s conscionable this daze and this tendency to marque it each spell away.”

Calling the quality “a chilly crystal queen,” Dever besides noted there’s a vulnerability lurking beneath Abby’s impulse for violence. “She conscionable needs thing to marque it each amended … the lone happening she tin deliberation astir is revenge. She’s heartbroken, she’s sad, she’s mislaid and she’s trying to prime up the pieces.”

However, she besides knew a large portion of nailing Abby was nailing her commanding presence: “When she walks into a room, she comes done with this aggravated strength. It’s what makes her scary and intimidating. But it’s each due to the fact that of however overmuch symptom she’s gone through.”

New episodes of The Last of Us get Sundays connected HBO and Max.

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