Last of Us showrunners explain why Abby isn’t muscular in season 2

The Last of Us showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have explained why Abby actor Kaitlyn Dever won’t be as muscular as her video game counterpart.

HBO’s The Last of Us returns in April and will cover some, but not all of Naughty Dog‘s second game. Kaitlyn Dever will join the cast as Abby, the co-protagonist of The Last of Us Part 2.

Since the casting was announced, fans have questioned why Dever, who usually sports a slim build, would be cast to play Abby, who in the video game is very muscular. Now, ahead of the show’s premiere, showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have explained the choice.

“We value performance over anything else,” Druckmann said to Entertainment Weekly. “We need someone to really capture the essence of those characters…. We don’t value as much, ‘Do they look exactly like the character with their eyebrows or their nose or their body?’ Whatever it is. It’s not nowhere on the priority list, but it’s below a bunch of other things that we consider.”

Druckmann claims that part of the reason for Abby’s physique in the game is that when playing as Abby in The Last of Us Part 2, she’s supposed to be more akin to playing as Joel, whereas Ellie was supposed to feel weaker, but much more agile.

“We would’ve struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role,” Druckmann explains. “In the game, you have to play both characters [Ellie and Abby] and we need them to play differently. We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around, and Abby was meant to play more like Joel in that she’s almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things.

“That doesn’t play as big of a role in this version of the story because there’s not as much violent action moment to moment. It’s more about the drama. I’m not saying there’s no action here. It’s just, again, different priorities and how you approach it.”

Other new additions to the cast include Young Mazino as Jessie, Danny Ramirez as Manny, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Ariela Barer as Mel, and Spencer Lord as Owen.

It’s been confirmed that the season will run for seven episodes, which is two fewer than in season one. Season two won’t cover the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2, and series co-creator Craig Mazin has said the series could run beyond three seasons.