The hate surrounding The Last of Us Part 2 continues – even after many years. Once again, an actress playing Abby is the target.
In recent years, there has been hardly any video game that has emotionally affected players as much as The Last of Us Part II. The continuation of Ellie and Joel’s story, who must survive in a zombie apocalypse, made headlines at the time. However, many disliked the course of the story and took out their frustration on the developers and actresses who brought the character Abby to life.
This drama seems to repeat itself with the series adaptation, as Kaitlyn Dever, who portrays Abby in the series, needs additional security.
On PlayStation 4, The Last of Us Part II was a huge success – despite controversy:
Why does Dever need protection? In the podcast “Happy Sad Confused,” Josh Horowitz spoke with Isabela Merced, who plays the role of “Dina.” During the discussion, she was asked about Kaitlyn Dever and what is happening due to some fans. She responded:
There are people who really hate Abby, even though she is not a real person. And that is why Kaitlyn needed additional protection from security while we were filming.
Dever appears visibly confused in the interview that some people’s feelings are so strong that they apparently cannot differentiate between a real person and a fictional character.
You can watch the entire interview here:
Why are the fans so angry? Honestly, the reason behind this hate is not rational. The character of “Abby” has been deeply hated by some since the release of the video game “The Last of Us Part II.” She is responsible for the death of an important character in the game and is simultaneously a protagonist that players must control for half of the game.
Even back at the release of the game, there were many who hated Abby so much that they expressed their anger towards the actress or the voice actress. This ranged from insults to death threats or threats against the families of these women.
How severe the threats have been at times and how much it has affected those involved was shown in a 2-hour documentary about the making of The Last of Us Part II. It features, for example, voice actress Laura Bailey, who has been drastically affected by the hostilities and threats:
Some “fans” seem unable to separate the fictional character from the actresses portraying that character.
Over six months ago, when the actress for Abby was announced, our editor-in-chief Leya expressed concerns that another wave of hate would be unleashed. It seems she was right. This is extremely unfortunate, especially considering that the message of The Last of Us Part II was actually that hate never leads to anything good.
