“The Last of Us” continues to round out its key actors for season 2.
Isabela Merced has been tapped to play Dina in the next season of its acclaimed post-apocalyptic survival drama, HBO announced Thursday. The character is described as “a free spirit whose devotion to Ellie will be tested by the brutality of the world he inhabits.”
“Dina is warm, bright, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable,” series co-creators and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in a statement. “You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away. “We couldn’t be more proud to have her join our family.”
Merced's casting follows announcements this week that “Dopesick” actress Kaitlyn Dever will join “The Last of Us” to play Abby, a deadly soldier with a score to settle, and that the “Beef” actor Young Mazino will play Jesse, a selfless pillar. of his community. Like Abby and Jesse, Dina was introduced in the sequel to the 2020 video game “The Last of Us Part II.” In the video game incarnation, Dina is a member of the community that Ellie and Joel settle in after the events of the first game. Dina's relationship with Ellie is a central part of “The Last of Us Part II.”
The second season of “The Last of Us” is expected to pick up after the events of season 1, in which grizzled survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal) escorted teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) on a journey across the United States. United States devastated by mysterious fungal outbreak. which has turned infected human hosts into zombie-like monsters to help develop a cure.
Merced is best known for her roles in films such as “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” (2019), “Let It Snow” (2019) and “Sweet Girl” (2021). She will also be seen in the upcoming Spider-Man spin-off, “Madame Web.”
