Kaitlyn Dever was cast as Abby for The Last of Us season 2 during a “really crazy” time in her life.
“I had lost my mom back in February of last year,” Dever, 28, said during an episode of the “Therapuss” podcast released on Thursday, April 3. “I had already started prep on the show before my mom had passed, and then she passed away and then I had to go and shoot right after. It was such a whirlwind.”
Dever announced via social media in February 2024 that her mom, Kathy, died at age 53 following a battle with stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
“I remember talking to my dad about having to go to work after something so catastrophic, and my dad was like, ‘I don’t think there’s a group of people that could have been better to carry you through that time,’” Dever continued during Thursday’s podcast episode. “It really felt like I was being carried through in such a gentle and beautiful way, and I don’t know what that would have been like had it have been another job, truly.”
Dever is taking on the role of Abby (if you know, you know) in HBO’s The Last of Us season 2, which is based on the video game of the same name. She’s one of a few new actors set to star alongside Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) in the highly anticipated second season, set to premiere Sunday, April 13.
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“I loved the group of people that I got to work with,” Dever continued, noting that she “really connected” with Pascal, 50, in “a really big way.” (Pascal lost his mother, Verónica, in 2000.)
“He’s everything you want him to be and more,” she gushed. “I mean, truly, what a special human being.”
Working on the show was “such a cool experience” for Dever. (Her dad, a fan of the video game, was stoked for her role as well.)
“It was such a privilege to get to kind of step into this new world that is so deeply loved [by people] who are fans of the game,” she said. “Then there is a whole group of people who are fans of the show who haven’t played the game. So, it really is so massive and that’s the first time I have ever really done something like that, and to get to be a part of that is really cool.”
