The Last of Us: Melanie Lynskey is down for Kathleen prequel!
By Ashley Hurst
The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us was a huge success. HBO quickly renewed the post-apocalyptic series for another season, which could begin filming as early as later this year. And there’s always the chance for spinoffs beyond that. Stars from the show are already mulling ideas. Most recently, Melanie Lynskey has revealed that if the creators behind the series wanted to do a Kathleen prequel, she would be game to return. Are you listening, Neil Druckmann?
Lynskey played Kathleen, the ruthless leader of a Kansas City Resistance group. She tries to hunt down Henry and Sam, but ultimately dies when a horde of infected bursts from the ground and attacks her followers. Kathleen does not appear in The Last of Us video game. According to Lynskey, Kathleen’s backstory could provide good material for a prequel, and she’d be totally down to explore it.
Melanie Lynskey would return for more The Last of Us
“If they wanted to go back and do an origin story, I would be there for it,” Lynskey told Variety. “The story of how this woman got into this crazy position would be really interesting.”
Having not played the video game, the HBO show was Lynskey’s first exposure to the story. “My thumbs don’t work that way. I didn’t even play Atari,” she said. “I was reading books. I was reading D.H. Lawrence when I was a child.”
At first she was hesitant to take the part. Her husband Jason Ritter, who had a cameo on the show, convinced her. “He said, ‘You have to do it, no questions asked.’ I was like, ‘But I’m tired.’ He was like, ‘I don’t care.’”
No longer is she tired, she’s hungry for more!
No!! It is a very misleading headline! A sweet person on a press line asked would I do an origin story for her, and what am I going to do,say no? I said sure of course! I’d do anything Craig Mazin asked me to do, is the answer. I certainly didn’t “pitch” this idea how mortifying https://t.co/dph2GzR2tn
— Melanie Lynskey (@melanielynskey) April 7, 2023
Melanie Lynskey did not “pitch” a Last of Us prequel: “It is a very misleading headline!”
It’s good not to get ahead of ourselves, though. When Variety first broke this story, they described the idea of a Kathleen origin story as something that Lynskey had “pitched.” This implies it’s something Lynskey was pushing for; however, the actor took to Twitter to shoot down those rumors. “It is a very misleading headline! A sweet person on the press line asked would I do an origin story for her, and what am I going to do say no? I said sure of course! I’d do anything Craig Mazin asked me to do, is the answer. I certainly didn’t ‘pitch’ this idea how mortifying.”
We’ll keep our excitement in check for now, but Craig Mazin, if you’re reading this, we’d certainly watch Kathleen’s origin story! Would you take a Kathleen spinoff? Or are there any other characters you’d like to see a backstory from?
The Last of Us season 1 is currently streaming on HBO Max. Season 2, and potentially even more installments, are on they way!
dark. Next. Pedro Pascal is “actively being ignorant” of The Last of Us reactions
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