Abby's Casting in The Last of Us is a Reflection of Ellie

HBO's The Last of Us has been a monumental success. The universally acclaimed video game has made arguably the best transition into live-action of any video game by picking up a slew of awards and nominations, including the nomination for "Outstanding Drama Series" at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, which is still pending. Where HBO's The Last of Us will go from its stunning and emotional first season is an easy one as The Last of Us game already has an award-winning sequel in The Last of Us Part II – winner of "Game of the Year" at The Game Awards 2020.

There is plenty of curiosity over how the show will approach the story of Part II, especially as it pertains to the character of Abby Anderson. Details have begun to emerge with Abby officially being portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever after months of rumors. Dever will be joined in the second season of HBO's The Last of Us by Beef star Young Mazino as Jesse and Dora and the Lost City of Gold star Isabela Merced as Dina. Dever may not have been fans' first choice for the role of Abby, but her casting could quickly prove to be the right one.

Who Is Kaitlyn Dever?

Kaitlyn Dever, 27, started acting when she was enrolled in an acting school at age five. Dever isn't the first actor in her family as her father, Tim Dever, voiced Barney the Dinosaur from 2000 to 2002 in three movies and two video games. Her father, along with her mother Kathy, were both also ice skating coaches.

Dever landed her first major role as Gwen Thompson in the 2009 television film An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong, the fifth film based on the American Girl dolls. In 2009, Dever also starred in the pilot for Make It or Break It as well as Bianca Douglass in the Modern Family episode "Fizbo". Dever got her big television break in 2011 when she was cast as Loretta McCready in the neo-Western crime drama Justified as well as Eve Baxter in the sitcom Last Man Standing.

Dever later caught her big movie break in 2019 with lead roles in both Them That Follow and Booksmart, the latter holding a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For her role as Amy Antsler in Booksmart, Dever won the award for "Best Performance by an Actor or Actress 23 and Under" at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards. Since then, Dever has received starring roles in titles such as Dear Evan Hansen, Dopesick, and Rosaline. Dever was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie" for her role in Dopesick. Dever is also no stranger to The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann and Naughty Dog as she voiced and did the motion capture work for Cassie Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, which Druckmann was the creative director and co-writer for.

• Variety lists Abby as being described as "A skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.”

It's difficult to describe Abby without quickly delving deep into spoiler territory. Abby plays a considerable role in Part II, being one of the playable characters. Her backstory is deeply intertwined with Joel and Ellie, unbeknownst to them, and serves as the driving force behind the story of Part II. Abby has many personal flaws and she confronts those flaws throughout Part II as her past, present, and future all collide with one another.

In Part II, Abby was voiced by Laura Bailey who is one of the most prolific voice actors today having voiced roles in the English dubs of Dragon Ball Z and Full Metal Alchemist as well as video games such as the Street Fighter series, Tales from the Borderlands, the Persona series, and Gears of War. Bailey currently has a starring role in the hit web series Critical Role. For her role as Abby, Bailey won the "Best Performance" award at The Game Awards 2020. Bailey did make a cameo appearance in HBO's The Last of Us playing one of the nurses in the first season's finale "Look for the Light."

Abby Is A Reflection Of Ellie

• Like Ellie, Abby is driven by loss.
• Abby is a challenge to the status quo, both in-universe and outside of it.
• Dever can easily portray a teenager similar to Bella Ramsey.
• Abby could be aged down to a similar age to Ellie and/or the upcoming time skip won't be as long.
• Dever has long been a popular fan-casting for Ellie.

Abby isn't a small role. Dever is playing a character that has about as much narrative weight as Joel and Ellie have had thus far. Abby is a reflection of Ellie. Someone who, too, has lost. Has gone through hardships. Who strives to make things right and ensure that no one else she cares about gets hurt again. Abby represents the importance of perspective and how much that can shape a worldview whether it's a cultural belief system or simply what is good and evil. It's difficult to set that aside to view things from the perspective of another, but Abby challenges that status quo both within the context of her story and from a meta standpoint.

Dever may seem like a bizarre choice on the surface, especially since she's not currently as muscular as Abby, but her casting works well with this idea. Like Ellie's Bella Ramsey, Dever can portray a teenager like Ramsey and viewers would be none the wiser. It says a lot that no one took issue with Dever portraying the high school girl-aged Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen, a film that was heavily scrutinized for its choice to cast the slightly older Ben Platt to reprise his stage role as the titular character. Having an actor who looks similar in age to Ramsey can further emphasize this reflection adding a sense of balance. It could also be a sign that the second season of the show isn't taking as big of a time jump as the five-year one from the games while also aging Abby down to an almost equal age to Ellie.

What's genius about the casting of Dever is that she has long been a popular fan-casting for Ellie. Whether or not this was taken into account when casting for Abby is unknown, but it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that it was. For Ellie's reflection to be portrayed by someone many fans had hoped to portray Ellie adds a strong connection between the two characters before Ramsey and Dever ever film a scene together. It will also make it easy for longtime The Last of Us fans to get attached to Dever as Abby because they've been so invested in her portraying Ellie that they'll see Ellie in Dever even though she's playing another character.

Dever Can Add More To Abby

For those familiar with Part II, Abby is a controversial character whether for justified or unjustified reasons. Druckmann has now had nearly four years to process any critiques surrounding Abby and will likely make some alterations to not only fit Dever's talents but also improve the character herself. Don't expect a wholesale change like Bill in the first season, but there are ways to expand an already complex character in Abby.

One easy way to improve on Abby could paint a clearer picture of why Dever was cast. Dever is a fantastic singer and is a part of a musical duo called Beulahbelle with her sister Mady Dever. In 2020, the duo released their first single "Raleigh." Dever's role as Zoe Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen garnered praise from critics of the frequently mocked film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Abby doesn't sing in Part II. However, Ellie does having since been taught how to play guitar by Joel. Having both Ellie and Abby display musical talents could further drive home the fact they're two sides of the same coin. If Ellie and Abby were from the same community they would likely be friends, but circumstances from well before they were born have put them on opposing sides. Plus, it would be a great opportunity for a split-screen duet.

There are other avenues writers could go down in bringing Abby to life such as introducing other hobbies, interests, and personality quirks not seen in the game. These can go a long way to making Abby much more endearing and sympathetic. Dever doesn't have to be Abby exactly as she's known today. Dever has an opportunity to make Abby her own as Ramsey did with Ellie and Pedro Pascal did for Joel, and she has the talent to do that. Dever has the acting range to produce emotional scenes or land comedic lines with plenty in between. Dever has the full confidence of Druckmann, Craig Mazin, and the rest of the team behind HBO's The Last of Us. She deserves the same confidence from fans as well.