Kaitlyn Dever’s journey on The Last of Us Season 2 as Abby began with her dealing with the loss of her mother right before shooting started.
Kaitlyn Dever finally made her highly anticipated debut in the pilot episode of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2. As the main antagonist of this season, Dever has the work cut out for her to peel back the layers of her character and show people what drives her vow of vengeance against Joel Miller.
As it stands, after her short but significant appearance in Episode 1, people are already chilled to the bones by her performance. Hence, they can’t wait to see what Dever does next to bring such an iconic and crucial character alive on screen as the story progresses.
Kaitlyn Dever in The Last of Us | Credits: HBO
What is interesting here is watching her performance; one would not imagine that she had to deal with the death of her mother just days before filming began. However, that is exactly what happened, and it sure took a toll on the young actress’s mind.
Kaitlyn Dever had to film The Last of Us Season 2 right after her mother’s passing
Kaitlyn Dever finally debuted on The Last of Us Season 2 with a heart-wrenching scene. It is established from the beginning what a pivotal role Dever plays in the series with her first appearance. As such, fans can’t help but simultaneously sympathize and disapprove of her character from the get-go.
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last of Us | Credits: HBO
Although her grief at losing her father is understandable, if unpleasant for fans, her vow of vengeance on the fan favorite Pedro Pascal‘s Joel Miller cemented her as the main antagonist firmly.
Hence, Kaitlyn Dever’s introduction in The Last of Us Season 2 brought with it an impending sense of doom that shook the very foundation of the show in its wake. Even with the short amount of time Dever appeared in the pilot, her spectacular performance still stunned fans.
In fact, she was so good with it that hardly anybody would believe that she filmed that scene right after her mother’s unfortunate passing. Unfortunately, though, the actress revealed on the podcast with Jake Shane a few days ago that she was going through just that when shooting started.
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.
However, her dad encouraged her to do so as he felt that no other “group of people that could have been better to carry [her] through that time”. It turns out that he was right, as Kaitlyn Dever added in the interview,
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.
Interestingly, although showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman were “amazing”, the biggest anchors for her during those tough days of filming became her onscreen enemies. That is, Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. She claimed that Ramsey was “so sweet” to her.
However, she connected to Pascal on a whole different level. This is understandable as the actor had also lost his mother in the 2000s, which continues to impact him and his sister even now.
As such, a kinship between Dever and Pascal after the former went through a cataclysmic tragedy is understandable. So is her admiration for her co-star, whom she claimed is “everything you want him to be and more. I mean truly what a special human being”. Needless to say, the people around her made her time on the set of The Last of Us Season 2 comfortable for her.
Fans react to Kaitlyn Dever shooting The Last of Us Season 2 right after her mother’s passing
The death of a parent, no matter what the reason and at what stage of life, is a terrible thing to deal with. As such, for Kaitlyn Dever, too, it must have been a life-changing incident even though her mother had been suffering from stage 4 metastatic breast cancer (via US Weekly).
Kaitlyn Dever in a still from The Last of Us 2 | Credits: HBO
Before she could take some time to grieve and process her loss, though, she had to be on set filming for The Last of Us Season 2. No matter how the people on set made her feel, showing up to work after such a tragedy is still a lot to ask. On top of that, just from her few scenes in the pilot episode, Dever showcased incredible dedication to the role that was sure to take her down a dark path.
As such, fans admiring her for her courage and work ethic after this information became viral on X is understandable. In fact, a user claimed that she had to be on set shooting for the first episode just three days after her mother’s funeral. Although there aren’t any references available for that statement yet, the situation is devastatingly sad, regardless.
reminder that this was filmed 3 days after Kaitlyn Dever attended her mother’s funeral https://t.co/LRqs3Io3JU
— sapphixated (@sapphix8ed) April 14, 2025
Yikes. The director probably didn’t have to work too hard to get that performance out of her.
It was still dumb though to open the season with a scene that gives away so much.
— AdamInHTownTX (@AdamInHTownTX) April 14, 2025
The strength it must’ve taken to show up to set and deliver this kind of scene is beyond admirable
— Morgan (@gimmieneckk) April 14, 2025
she turned grief into the most powerful performance of the series
— Honey Gold (@HoneyGoldxx) April 14, 2025
No wonder she did such a great job with the scene. Raw emotion. She’s outstanding
— sarah denunzio (@sarah_denunzio) April 14, 2025
Unlike the The Last of Us game, HBO’s TV series highlighted the motivation behind Abby hunting Pascal’s Joel Miller in the very first episode.
As this information came as a major twist midway through the game, it’ll be interesting to see how the series tackles that haunting storyline in the coming episodes. However, with Craig Mazin at the helm, fans are assured that the series won’t disappoint in giving that arc a fitting adaptation. As such, fans are waiting with bated breath to witness what happens in the coming episodes for themselves.
The Last of Us Season 2 is streaming on MAX from April 13, 2025 (USA).
