The Last of Us’ Kaitlyn Dever on Her Approach to Playing Abby

Last night, The Last of Us returned and viewers finally got to meet Abby, a crucial character in The Last of Us Part II video game who’s poised to be just as important in the HBO series. She’s played in the show by Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You, Booksmart, Dopesick), who despite being just 28 has over a decade of credits to her name—but she’s never played a character as notorious as Abby, something she was well aware of when she took the role.

No spoilers as to why Abby’s spoken of in such hushed terms among The Last of Us game fans—the TV show will catch up soon enough, presumably. But if you watched the season premiere, you know that this is a young woman with one of the oldest motivations in storytelling: revenge.

“The way into Abby is knowing how grief feels and how loss affects you, especially in the immediate aftermath,” Dever told the Hollywood Reporter in a new interview. “There’s just this shock and this desire to make it all go away.”

Calling the character “a chilly ice queen,” Dever also noted there’s a vulnerability lurking beneath Abby’s urge for violence. “She just needs something to make it all better … the only thing she can think about is revenge. She’s heartbroken, she’s sad, she’s lost and she’s trying to pick up the pieces.”

However, she also knew a big part of nailing Abby was nailing her commanding presence: “When she walks into a room, she comes through with this intense strength. It’s what makes her scary and intimidating. But it’s all because of how much pain she’s gone through.”

New episodes of The Last of Us arrive Sundays on HBO and Max.

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