Isabela Merced Says Kaitlyn Dever Needed "Extra" Security On The Last of Us Set

Joining the second season of HBO's The Last of Us live-action series is Kaitlyn Dever stepping into the role of Abby Anderson , an antagonist to Joel and Ellie that has been hated since The Last of Us 2 released. Unfortunately for Dever, some people take this hatred to a level that raised concern on set, as was revealed by fellow cast member Isabela Merced who said that her co-star needed extra security on set because of people who "genuinely hate" her character. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast per Variety , Merced said, "There's so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this."

Dever's casting in the Season 2 of The Last of Us has faced fairly consistent backlash since its initial announcement, with gamers used to a specific appearance for the antagonist too often taking their concerns over Dever not being muscular enough for the role to a harmful level, hence the concerns on set that resulted in upped security for the cast newcomer. Combined with the fact that Abby is a character who has never really had very much of a fanbase or many "apologists" to begin with, it's not hard to imagine being in this position could be difficult.

"What confuses me is the showrunner and creator of the video game, they work together to make this, so if you like what the guy made and he's making more of it, why are you mad? I'm too opinionated to be on Twitter. I see this stuff on Twitter, and it makes me want to go Cardi B on them," Merced continued. "Kaitlyn is such a cool person who does not get phased by things. She really had her head in the right place, and also is going through a lot personally right now. It's devastating to see, but also give her the damn Emmy, honestly. I'm so excited for people to see how incredibly well Bella and Kaitlyn did on this."

Dever and Merced are both newcomers to Season 2, with other additions to the cast led by Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal including Ariela Barer, Catherine O'Hara, Danny Ramirez, Jeffrey Wright, Tati Gabrielle, Young Mazino, and Spencer Lord. The Last of Us season 2 will premiere in 2025.