It's been a couple of months since The Last of Us season 2 finished airing on HBO, and fans are still processing the emotional fallout and wondering what's going to happen next for Abby, Ellie, and the rest of the characters as the series heads into its highly anticipated third season.
Amid all the speculation, Laura Bailey, the original voice and motion-capture actress for Abby in the game, has finally spoken out about Kaitlyn Dever’s portrayal of the character in the show. In her reaction, she offers high praise for the Emmy-nominated performance and shares her heartfelt reaction to seeing the character come to life on screen.
During a Comic-Con interview with Entertainment Weekly, which was focused on her animated projects The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein, Bailey talked about Dever’s performance as Abby on the hit HBO series.
First, she expressed her admiration for her acting talent. She goes on to share that she thought Dever was amazing and that every time she appeared on screen as Abby, she loved how she added her own unique touch to the character. Bailey then compared watching Dever’s performance to seeing your child take their first steps, highlighting the pride and emotional connection she feels as someone who originally brought Abby to life.
In other words, Bailey felt a parental kind of pride watching someone else take on a role she originally portrayed. It was exciting and emotional for her to see the character live and grow in someone else’s hands.
She emphasized how once a character is shared with the world, it takes on a life of its own, and now Dever has fully taken ownership of Abby in her own way. In short, Bailey is proud, supportive, and touched by how Dever made Abby her own on the HBO show.
"She's just phenomenal, every moment that I saw that she was in, I just loved how much she brought to the character and made it her own. It's kind of like watching your child get up and start walking for the first time. Once you put it out there it's somebody else's and she's just embraced it."
Bailey's Abby was introduced in the second video game, The Last of Us Part II. Her character plays a pivotal role in the story as the daughter of the Firefly doctor who was killed by Joel in the first game. This sets her off on a relentless quest for revenge against Joel, a pursuit that is also depicted in the TV adaptation.
Although Bailey didn't reprise the Abby role in the HBO series, she did make a small cameo appearance as a masked doctor in Ellie’s operating room during season 1. So, that gave fans a little Easter egg to appreciate.
The Last of Us season 3 will focus more on Abby and is planned for a 2027 release. Neil Druckmann has stepped away as co-showrunner to concentrate on his game studio, leaving Craig Mazin to now serve as the sole showrunner.
When asked by Entertainment Weekly if Mazin had contacted her about possibly making a cameo appearance in The Last of Us season 3, Bailey gave a playful and teasing response instead of a direct answer. She responded, "Oh you, look at you. I'm not saying anything." Could this mean a surprise cameo is already in the works? While nothing has been confirmed, her coy response has certainly sparked speculation!
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