The Last of Us' Abby voice actor says HBO was wise to change controversial death after backlash
Laura Bailey, the voice actor who played Abby Anderson in the video game The Last of Us Part II, has said she thinks HBO was right to rework a controversial death scene after she received severe backlash for starring in the original.
The scene in the second episode of The Last of Us season two has left fans of the TV show an emotional wreck and has been described as one of the most shocking deaths in recent television history.
The critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning show follows Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, survivors in a post-apocalyptic United States ravaged by a deadly mass fungal infection.
Tragically, Joel's journey came to a violent end in a demise that fans of the video game would have been all too aware of.
Joel is killed by Abby Anderson, who is seeking revenge for the death of her father at Joel's hands. In the game, Abby's motivation is not explained until much later, so Joel's brutal murder with a golf club comes as a shock.
In the TV version, Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever, is presented more sympathetically and given new dialogue justifying her actions and discussing her moral code.
Speaking to Vulture, Bailey said she thought the changes to the script were sensible. 'I think that's why HBO is doing what they're doing,' she said. 'You're prepared for it.'
After the video game was released in 2020, Bailey was on the receiving end of severe backlash from fans who felt their hero had been taken from them without explanation. 'That was a very rough period of time,' she said, explaining that she was targeted by waves of attacks on social media, including death threats against her newborn son.
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'I knew it was going to be intense. I knew it was going to be controversial,' added the voice actor.
'But I was still so excited to share it with the world, because I poured so much into that performance, and I was really proud of it. So to get that reaction right away was really tough. I don't think anybody predicted what the fallout would be from it. I was not prepared. But I don't think anybody on the team was.'
She went on to say that the experience has discouraged her from posting on social media, explaining: 'There's definitely still a contingent of people that have not calmed down from it. You know, anytime anything gets posted about [ The Last of Us Part II ], or anytime I post anything random, there's going to be at least one comment from somebody.
'And I honestly don't know: Is it just the same hundred people that keep commenting? And they just won't let go? It's one of the reasons I don't really post on social media anymore. I don't want to say I was scared away from it, because I don't think that's what it was. It just kind of made me more guarded, you know?'
Season two of The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9pm ET on Max in the U.S. and Sky Atlantic and NOW every Monday at 2am BST in the U.K.
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