As the casting for Abby in The Last of Us season 2 ramps up, one candidate originally fan-casted as Ellie presents herself as the perfect choice,

Casting for Abby Anderson in The Last of Us season 2 is expected to ramp up after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strikes, with one candidate who was once fan-casted for Ellie being the perfect choice. With HBO’s The Last of Us moving into the story of the second game, The Last of Us season 2’s cast will undoubtedly grow. The second Last of Us game was much longer, much more emotionally heavy, and explored more morally gray themes than its predecessor, which all may contribute to making Last of Us season 2 a different show entirely.

Set a few years after The Last of Us season 1’s timeline, season 2 will introduce a host of new characters that accompany Ellie and Joel on their tumultuous future endeavors. One of these is Abby Anderson, a complex, emotionally resonant character from the second game. Given that Abby is the most important character besides Ellie in The Last of Us Part II, the pressure is on HBO to cast an actress who can shoulder this burden. That said, one choice has presented itself who is entangled with the role of Ellie and thus would be perfect to play Abby in The Last of Us season 2’s story.

Kaitlyn Dever Is The Perfect Abby After Almost Playing Ellie In HBO’s The Last Of Us Season 1

The actress who would be perfect to play Abby is Kaitlyn Dever. Interestingly, Kaitlyn Dever has been fan-casted as Ellie since as far back as 2013 when the first game was released. The reason for this stems from how similar Dever looks physically to the game model of Ellie from The Last of Us Part I. In the years since the game’s release when various adaptations were in differing stages of development, Dever’s name has always been mentioned in relation to the role of Ellie.

Furthermore, Dever auditioned for the role of Ellie for HBO’s The Last of Us. The actress even went as far as making it to a table read for Ellie before the role was handed to Bella Ramsey as the showrunners wished to cast someone younger for the part. The connections Dever has to the world of The Last of Us make her the perfect choice to play Abby in The Last of Us season 2, especially given the thematic elements of the two characters in question.

Casting Kaitlyn Dever As The Last Of Us’ Abby Would Sell Season 2’s Themes Perfectly

Warning! The following section contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II.

Concerning Abby and Ellie, much of The Last of Us season 2’s story will center on their respective quests for revenge against one another. The series will begin with Abby murdering Joel as she is the daughter of the Firefly surgeon Joel killed in The Last of Us season 1’s finale. This will then see Ellie consumed by revenge against Abby before the show will attempt to make viewers sympathize with the latter character. This was an incredibly controversial element of The Last of Us Part II, yet casting Dever as Abby for the TV adaptation will fit these themes to perfection in a genius way.

The reason for this stems from the core emotional arc that Abby and Ellie are not so different. The purpose of the second game, and thus The Last of Us season 2, is about forgiving the unforgivable. Casting an actress who almost got the role of Ellie perfectly sells this theme in a somewhat meta way, as it furthers this notion that the characters are not so different. Doing this with an actress who fans also have thought should be Ellie for over a decade will make it even more rewarding for The Last of Us season 2’s story.