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If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that online discourse can become a bit heated - especially when it comes to video games. For The Last of Us season two, the reaction of a selection of vocal and very angry gamers led the producers to provide extra security for Kaitlyn Dever, who is playing Abby in the upcoming season. 

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast, Isabel Merced, who is playing Dina in the show, explained that the backlash the character got when The Last of Us Part II was released in 2020 wasn’t lost on the producers of the live-action adaptation. “There are people who genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder – not a real person. And so, Kaitlyn had to be extra secured, like, by security when it came to the filming of this.”

The measure might seem excessive but it wouldn’t be the first time that an actress playing Abby was targeted due to the character’s – again, entirely fictional – actions in the video game. Laura Bailey was very vocal about the death threats she received for herself, her parents, and her infant son after the game came out.

Thankfully, there haven’t been any reports of incidents by obsessive fans of the game on set, which Merced says is close to finishing filming at the moment. Still, it is ridiculous that the measure even had to be considered simply because some people couldn’t understand that a fictional villain is going to do some things they don’t like.

The Last of Us season two is due out on HBO and Max in 2025.

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