The Last Of Us' Kaitlyn Dever had extra security on set because of Abby hatred

21 April 2025, 12:23 | Updated: 22 April 2025, 19:08

By Katie Louise Smith

"Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this."

With The Last Of Us season 2 now airing, fans are already bracing for backlash from the toxic corners of the fandom, particularly when it comes to the character of Abby Anderson.

Kaitlyn Dever plays the divisive character and her co-star Isabela Merced (who plays Dina) has now revealed that HBO have ramped up their support in order to protect Kaitlyn from any backlash she may receive.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2024, Isabela revealed that on-set security was increased for Kaitlyn due to concerns over the hatred of Abby.

When The Last Of Us: Part II game was released, the OG Abby actress Laura Bailey received hateful comments, death threats and was harassed by players who didn't like what the *fictional* (!) character did in the game.

• Read more: Is Pedro Pascal leaving The Last of Us? Does Joel come back in season 2?
• Read more: What happened to Eugene in The Last of Us and why did Joel kill him?

While discussing season 2 and praising Bella Ramsey's performance, conversation between Isabela and host Josh Horowitz turned to having to deal with the scrutiny and toxicity of the fandom that unfortunately comes hand-in-hand with portraying the characters.

"There's so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person," Isabela said when Kaitlyn was mentioned. "Just a reminder: Not a real person."

"Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this," she added. "Kaitlyn's such a cool person who just does not get phased by things, really has her head in the right place, and also is going through a lot right now, personally."

"Give her the damn Emmy, honestly. I'm so excited for people to see how incredibly well Bella and Kaitlyn did on this."

Isabela Merced talks ALIEN: ROMULUS, THE LAST OF US, SUPERMAN, MADAME WEB I Happy Sad Confused

Read more about The Last of Us here:

• The Last of Us creators confirm Part 2 will be split into ‘multiple seasons’
• The Last of Us season 2 will be different from the game says co-creator
• The Last of Us fans can't believe Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey never had a chemistry read
• The Last of Us finally confirms devastating theory that Ellie killed Riley
• The Last of Us viewers spot filming error in Joel and Ellie's bridge scene

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