For HBO's upcoming The Last of Us Season 2, extra security was needed for newcomer Kaitlyn Dever. She will join Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, and Isabela Merced in the forthcoming season.
Speaking to Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Merced acknowledged the hate Dever would get for playing the polarizing Last of Us character Abby. In turn, HBO hired extra security for her while filming the second season.
“There [are] so many strange people in this world,” Merced said. “Because there are people [who] are getting genuine hate Abby, who is not a real person. So Kaitlyn had to be extra secure by security when it came to filming this.
Kaitlyn is such a cool person who just does not get fazed by things — [she] really has her head in the right place and also is going through a lot personally right now,” she added.
Luckily, the job is done. Merced says that Dever deserves an Emmy for her work in The Last of Us Season 2.
What is The Last of Us?
The Last of Us is a hit HBO adaptation of the video game of the same name. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey starred in the first season as the lead characters, Joel and Ellie, respectively. It follows Joel, a smuggler who is tasked with escorting an immune teenager (Ellie) across a post-apocalyptic United States.
Craig Mazin created the series adaptation along with Neil Druckmann, a developer for Naughty Dog, and co-created The Last of Us video game. The duo were credited with writing each episode in some way. Mazin also directed the premiere episode and Druckmann the second.
The show was a big success for HBO. Not only did it do well viewership-wise, it was an awards contender. At the Emmys, the first season garnered 24 nominations and won eight awards.
A second season was confirmed, and Pascal and Ramsey will return. Isabela Merced and Kaitlyn Dever will join The Last of Us Season 2, which will presumably adapt the sequel video game, as Dina and Abby, respectively.
Who is Kaitlyn Dever?
Kaitlyn Dever is an award-winning actress who first gained fame for her roles in TV series such as Justified and Last Man Standing. Her other TV work includes Netflix's Unbelievable and Hulu's Dopesick. For her performance in the latter, she earned an Emmy nomination.
Her big screen debut came in 2011 when she appeared in Bad Teacher. She would follow that up with roles in J. Edgar, The Spectacular Now, Short Term 12, and All Summers End.
After supporting roles in Detroit and Beautiful Boy, Dever had her mainstream breakthrough with Booksmart. She starred in Olivia Wilde's directorial debut with Beanie Feldstein.
Since then, Dever has starred in Dear Evan Hansen and Ticket to Paradise. She also executive produced and starred in Rosaline for Hulu. The movie was a different take on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet story. She also executive produced and starred in No One Will Save You. Additionally, Dever had cameos in Next Goal Wins and Good Grief.