Kaitlyn Dever Was Supposed to Play THIS Role in The Last of Us Before Getting Finalized as Abby; Actor Reveals if She Auditioned

Kaitlyn Dever opened up about almost playing the role of Ellie before getting finalized to portray the character of Abby in The Last of Us season 2. Read the details below.

Written by Rashi Desai , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 26, 2025 | 08:32 AM GMT | 12.5K

Kaitlyn Dever via Instagram

Kaitlyn Dever opened up about her role in the upcoming season of The Last of Us. The actress revealed that she had been almost finalized to play the role of Ellie, before Bella Ramsey was cast.

In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Dever revealed that she learned about the video game on which the series has been adapted two years before it launched in the market. Soon, Neil Druckmann came to the actress with the offer to play the lead role alongside Pedro Pascal. However, that just went away.

Much to Dever’s surprise, the character of Abby was pitched to the actress, who is a soldier seeking vengeance in the show, as well as the central character.

Speaking to the media portal, the young celeb explained, “I didn’t even audition. It was only just like meetings I was having with [creator] Neil [Druckmann]. I was going to [Druckmann’s video game company] Naughty Dog, and he was showing me how the game was created and definitely giving me spoilers for game II years before it came out; I had to carry a lot of weight; it’s been rough these last 10 years, I have to say.”

She further explained, “I always thought about it as this thing that I bonded a lot with my dad, and we played the game together. I had those few months where I was talking to Neil about potentially playing Ellie, but then, as moviemaking goes, that went away for a while.”

Kaitlyn went on to shower praises on Ramsey, stating that the actress portrayed the role brilliantly. Bella and Pedro Pascal together created magic in the first season.

Moreover, the actress claimed that “it almost felt like, ‘Oh, this was always meant to be in my life, just in a different way,’ and that felt really cool.”

The Last of Us is set to release on April 13.