A decade later, she’s finally a “Last of Us” star

Wise souls knew Kaitlyn Dever would be in “The Last of Us.”
They just didn’t know when it would be or whom she would play.
As a teen, Dever did a script-reading for a “Last of Us” movie. She would star as Ellie, the young survivor of a global apocalypse.
That project faded, then returned as one of the most expensive shows in TV history. And its second season (starting 9 p.m. Sunday, April 13, on HBO) has Dever, now 28, as Abby, a skilled and vengeful soldier.
“To have it come back around, like 10-plus years later, felt surreal,” she said.
The role requires strong emotions, which she’d already shown in “Justified,” “Dopesick,” “Unbreakable” and more. But it also has an action-hero mode.
There was usually no need for a stunt double, producer Craig Mazin said. “Kaitlyn just would never say no …. When you see how physically tremendous her performance is, it’s kind of amazing.”
Maybe that shouldn’t surprise us. Her parents are figure-skating coaches; she trained as a skater, gymnast and ballerina, before focusing on acting.
At 14, she drew praise on “Justified” as a kid entangled in a backwoods drug ring. Later, she was nominated for an Emmy (as an opiod-addicted worker in “Dopesick”) and a Golden Globe (as a rape victim in “Unbreakable”).
She also did passable work in comedy (over six seasons of “Last Man Standing”) and singing (in the “Dear Evan Hansen” movie).
In the interim, “Last of Us” prospered as a videogame, but nothing else. “I was a huge fan of the game …. It was like a real bonding moment for me and my dad,” Dever said.
Then she was cast in the second season, heading to Canada. (The first season was shot in Alberta, the second in British Columbia.) “The world of ‘The Last of Us’ is so large,” she said.
And, at times, so cold. “We were in a blizzard,” said Gabriel Luna, 42. “Like an actual blizzard.”
He plays Tommy, a key part of the new season.
The first one focused on Ellie (Bella Ramsey), one of the few people immune to a global virus, and to Joel (Pablo Pascal), her colleague and sometimes protector. Now that has jumped ahead five years.
“Ellie was like 14 and now is 19,” said Ramsey, 21. “I think in any teen-ager’s life, that’s the formative years.”
And now – for reasons not immediately explained – she’s mad at Joel. “There’s an incredibly painful distance between them,” Pascal said.
They’re in a fortified town where Tommy (Joel’s brother) and his wife lead a commune. That allows room for new characters.
There’s Jesse, an idealist. “I remember getting more nervous when I stepped onto the set and realized the sheer scale of the town,” said Young Mazino, 33, who plays him. “And seeing the huge gate they built.”
And there’s Dina, Jesse’s former girlfriend, now linked with Ellie. She’s a relatively cheery sort.
“I kind of see Dina as an extension of myself,” said Isabela Merced, 23, who plays her. “If I were in an apocalyptic situation, I would try to lighten it up.”
Merced, who has Peruvian roots on her maternal side, starred in the Dora the Explorer movie and has lately been in a stretch of fantasy epics – “Madame Web” and “Alien: Romulus” and the upcoming “Superman.”
And in between, she’s Dina, trying to brighten an angry world. “That’s our superpower as humans … to make our own reality.”