The Last of Us creators defend Kaitlyn Dever casting – confirming changes for Abby

Preempting any backlash from fans about Dever playing Abby, especially when it comes to how the character looks, Neil Druckmann said: "We value performance over anything else.

"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."

He added to Entertainment Weekly: “We would've struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role.

"We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of manoeuvre 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."

Craig Mazin went on to say that Dever's casting opens up more opportunities in the story, including where Abby's formidable nature comes from, and how she might fare being physically more vulnerable than Ellie.

The Last of Us season 2 is set for release this April, with the show set to tackle Part 2 of the game.

Also joining Pedro Pascal (Joel), Ramsey and Dever in the cast are stars including Isabela Merced, who's taking on the role of Dina, Catherine O'Hara, who's playing a mysterious new character who doesn't appear in the games, and Young Mazino, who's playing Jesse.

We're also expecting cast members including Gabriel Luna (Tommy) and Rutina Wesley (Maria) to return.

The Last of Us season 2 will premiere in April. Season 1 is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW with an Entertainment Membership.

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