Spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2
The Last of Us Season 2 star Kaitlyn Dever opens up about her heartbreaking personal connection to the infamous death scene at the center of the second episode “Through the Valley.” Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the actress spoke about losing her mother (who passed away from cancer in 2024) as she was gearing up to film the sequence where Abby kills Joel. In the early part of the season, Abby is out for revenge against Joel, who murdered her father when he saved Ellie from the hospital in Salt Lake City. So, as Dever was preparing to portray a character grieving a parent’s death, she was going through a similar situation in real life.
“To be as honest as possible, I will just say that my days leading up to this scene were horrible,” Dever said. “I lost my mom two or three weeks before I actually shot this scene, and my mom’s funeral was three days before I did my first day. So I was sort of in a fog. I was in a daze.”
“We said, ‘Take your time. Take all the time you need,’” The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin said. “While I care extraordinarily about the show, it’s a TV show. I’m not going to disrupt someone’s grieving process for their own parent, especially [with] a show that’s partly about the grieving process.”
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Joel’s death in The Last of Us Part II is one of the most controversial and shocking moments in gaming, but the showrunners always knew there was “never a question” the scene would be adapted for the TV show. On an episode of the official Last of Us podcast, Mazin and Neil Druckmann laughed at the belief some had that HBO wouldn’t allow them to do it due to Pedro Pacal’s popularity.
A short teaser for The Last of Us Season 2, Episode 3 that played after “Through the Valley” gave viewers a tease of what comes next in the story following Joel’s death. Now Ellie will be the one going on a quest for revenge, hunting down Abby and the rest of her crew in Seattle.
In the scene, which is arguably more brutal on the show when compared to the game, Dever gives a strong performance, perfectly conveying the raw emotions behind Abby’s actions. It’s heartbreaking and upsetting to know she was in a similar space as her character. Dever noted that because of what was going on in her life, she altered her routine. Instead of “memorizing [Abby’s monologue] three weeks before I [did] it,” she just “really let it go and [didn’t] think about it too much.” She felt that helped better serve her portrayal as Abby, crediting the “powerful” writing for the sequence.
When Dever was cast as Abby ahead of Season 2, Druckmann addressed the changes in the character for the TV adaptation; in the game, Abby has a bulkier, stronger physique, as she’s spent years training as a soldier. Druckmann’s reasoning for this alteration is that the TV show is “more about the drama,” so it was more important to find someone who could best handle those elements. In a short time, Dever has left a memorable impression on viewers, and it’ll be interesting to see how she handles the rest of Abby’s story throughout Season 2 and beyond.
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