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[adamsapple]

Last of Us TV show Abby actor is well aware of the backlash to the character | VGC

Dever will play Abby when the show returns next month, and she’s well aware of the character’s reputation…

www.videogameschronicle.com

When asked if she had seen the backlash to the video game portrayal of the character, Dever said that while she was aware of it, she couldn’t focus on it when developing her interpretation of the character.

“Well, it’s hard not to see those things on the internet,” said Dever. “It’s hard not to stop myself from looking at it every once in a while, especially going into this, for sure. And I want to do this character justice and make the fans proud by bringing her to life in this kind of way.”

“My main focus was just the collaboration between Neil and Craig, and making sure I was really getting to the core of who she is and what drives her and her emotional state; her anger and her frustration and her grief and all of that. I wanted to make sure that that was what I was focusing most of my energy on,” Dever told Screen Rant.

When Abby’s character was introduced to the franchise, some of her actions in the story of The Last of Us 2, which we won’t spoil, led to an online hate campaign that targeted creator Neil Druckmann and original actor Laura Bailey.

 

[adamsapple]

Devers is a fantastic actress, for those who want a crash course in her acting chops, check out

No One Will Save You - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An almost entirely dialogue-free horror movie.

 

[Gonzito]

Its not her fault or Bella Ramsey's fault either. Its the stupid people behind the casting process picking the wrong people for their respective roles

 

[MiguelItUp]

Its not her fault or Bella Ramsey's fault either. Its the stupid people behind the casting process picking the wrong people for their respective roles

I mean, to be fair, they should be allowed to make subtle changes if they'd like. No one should expect everyone to look 1:1 like they do to the characters in-game.

I hate to go back to it, but it's like comparing The Walking Dead's graphic novel to the series. The same happened there, multiple times.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Devers is a fantastic actress, for those who want a crash course in her acting chops, check out

No One Will Save You - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An almost entirely dialogue-free horror movie.

I've been a big fan of hers for a long time.

Pretty much since Booksmart. She was fantastic in Unbelievable. Looking forward to what she brings to this.

 

[Gonzito]

I mean, to be fair, they should be allowed to make subtle changes if they'd like. No one should expect everyone to look 1:1 like they do to the characters in-game.

I hate to go back to it, but it's like comparing The Walking Dead's graphic novel to the series. The same happened there, multiple times.

One thing is to make changes and another is to hire Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Whoever took this decision should be charged with murder

 

[Punished Miku]

Its not her fault or Bella Ramsey's fault either. Its the stupid people behind the casting process picking the wrong people for their respective roles

They probably picked the right person for Abby though. She's great, and I thought people didn't want the character to look like an unrealistic linebacker. Now she doesn't.

It's probably the best casting for the show so far. I think they botched it on the 2 main characters just because they both had HBO contracts from Game of Thrones.

 

[Gonzito]

They probably picked the right person for Abby though. She's great, and I thought people didn't want the character to look like an unrealistic linebacker. Now she doesn't.

Yes I actually think this actress is well chosen for Abby. Her acting skill in the show Justified were awesome.

 

[Ristifer]

Dever is awesome. Looking forward to seeing her in this.

Let's be honest. The hate comes from a bunch of mouthbreathers anyway. Not even worth paying attention to it. At the end of the day, she's in a massive production doing what she loves, while the people typing on social media are (most likely) losers.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Yeah. I’ve loved her performances in just about everything she’s done. She was great in the second season of Justified, even just as a support character.

That said, this falls on shitty producers. It’s as retarded of casting as Tom Cruise as Reacher, if you ever read the books.

 

[DanielG165]

Devers is a fantastic actress, for those who want a crash course in her acting chops, check out

No One Will Save You - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An almost entirely dialogue-free horror movie.

One of the best sci fi horror movies in recent years. The fact that Devers carried this film without uttering a single word until like, the last 10 minutes, is truly impressive. It was mostly just her by herself, also, with no one else to really bounce off of.

She’s a damn good actress.

 

[Black_Stride]

Its not her fault or Bella Ramsey's fault either. Its the stupid people behind the casting process picking the wrong people for their respective roles

Her as Abby is great casting.
Isabella was also good casting.
Dont know why people say Joel wasnt cast well, i think he did a good job.

Ill not speak on Ellie.

 

[funking giblet]

I find it amazing that people cannot get over a video game character and a live action actress not looking the same and it being the most important thing. Her acting was absolutely fine as Ellie. It's a different take on the same story. Joel looks nothing like his character besides brown hair and a beard too.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

are they going to fix her in the show?

 

[adamsapple]

are they going to fix her in the show?

Fix how?

They're probably not gonna change major story beats, if that's what you mean.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

She could've been SO much better Ellie, goddamn it.

 

[viveks86]

Devers is a fantastic actress, for those who want a crash course in her acting chops, check out

No One Will Save You - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An almost entirely dialogue-free horror movie.

Also, apple cider vinegar. Was blown away!

 

[Zacfoldor]

If Abby had always been a cutesy girly girl and not a overly-muscled moustachioed female ham beast, then I think the narrative would have been much better received.

For me, it turns it completely around. I can understand a sweet daughter's drive for vengeance and understand and accept her ignorance and even let her go because of it.

The beast machine that was Abby in the game relayed no such emotion. Rather, an arrogant sickening beastly pungent asshole is putting Abby's personality mildly. In the game she was the bitch of bitches. I couldn't relate. I think because of the casting the show will be better than the game.

Disagree? Okay, imagine in the game Ellie was Abby and Abby was Ellie? Joel was the doctor and the doctor was Joel. Story make more sense now?

 

[GymWolf]

Not her fault if they gave her the wrong role for a character that was too retarded to nail in a real life situation.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

fuck anyone who gives her hate. she's amazing. i think she'll do a good job but that'll never be enough for some people.

i'd have passed on this shit show of a show and fan base and noped the fuck out. no matter what she isn't gonna come out of it in a positive light. take another film or tv series and forget about the toxic TLOU community.

 

[GymWolf]

I mean, to be fair, they should be allowed to make subtle changes if they'd like. No one should expect everyone to look 1:1 like they do to the characters in-game.

I hate to go back to it, but it's like comparing The Walking Dead's graphic novel to the series. The same happened there, multiple times.

Brutta ramsey as ellie is as a sublte change as choosing lizzo for a mother theresa biopic (unless it's the netflix version)

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Fix how?

They're probably not gonna change major story beats, if that's what you mean.

major story birdies, if that's what you mean

 

[adamsapple]

major story birdies, if that's what you mean

 

[Thebonehead]

Yeah. I’ve loved her performances in just about everything she’s done. She was great in the second season of Justified, even just as a support character.

That said, this falls on shitty producers. It’s as retarded of casting as Tom Cruise as Reacher, if you ever read the books.

Reacher is 5ft3 surely

 

[AJUMP23]

Devers is a great actress, First saw her in Justified. Abby is a bad character I think.

 

[Nickolaidas]

"I want to do the character justice."

Yeah, that'll work out perfectly. The problem is not whether people think you'll do the character justice, the problem is that this character is hated.


That said, not her fault, and people shouldn't harass her for it.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Devers is a great actress, First saw her in Justified. Abby is a bad character I think.

Can you articulate what makes her a bad character?

 

[Spitfire098]

May i never stoop so low in life that I feel like attacking an actress playing a video game character is the correct move. Some of yall built different.

 

[IFireflyl]

May i never stoop so low in life that I feel like attacking an actress playing a video game character is the correct move. Some of yall built different.

Who in here attacked her? I don't see a single person in this thread attacking the actress. In fact, what I see is a ton of support for the actress, and any hate that is here is for the character, not the actress.

 

[Katatonic]

Her as Abby is great casting.
Isabella was also good casting.
Dont know why people say Joel wasnt cast well, i think he did a good job.

Ill not speak on Ellie.

Ellie's casting was great as well.

 

[AJUMP23]

Can you articulate what makes her a bad character?

Uninteresting revenge story that killed a great character.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Ellie's casting was great as well.

Imagine people who are so removed from reality that they can't accept that the show was a massive hit and Ramsey was nominated for a golden globe and an emmy.

I love Tom Hanks. Think he's a national treasure (no pun intended). I love the book series of The Da Vinci Code. I think Tom Hanks could do pretty much any role, but I think he was miscast as Robert Langdon.

Some people like the movies and I think that's fine, but I feel pretty satisfied that Tom Hanks wasn't nominated for anything for either movie and that these movies weren't super well received.

TLOU was cast amazingly well even though Pedro was not my first choice. Bella Ramsey is a great choice and that being said I would have recast her in season 2 as I'm not sure how well she'll be able to play an older Ellie.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Uninteresting revenge story that killed a great character.

First, that a criticism of the story not the character. Second, what made them a great character?

At the end of the day people are just seriously butthurt that a main character gets killed. As if that didn't happen in Game of Thrones or various other media. The real truth is a bit more deep but I won't get into that.

 

[hemo memo]

Who in here attacked her? I don't see a single person in this thread attacking the actress. In fact, what I see is a ton of support for the actress, and any hate that is here is for the character, not the actress.

Even online, it's mostly people complaining that she didn't get the role of Ellie.

 

[hemo memo]

Imagine people who are so removed from reality that they can't accept that the show was a massive hit and Ramsey was nominated for a golden globe and an emmy.

The show's success stemmed from Pedro's exceptional performance. He carried the season. His portrayal was central to the narrative. Notably, the lowest-rated episode, 'Left Behind,' focused on her character.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Emotionally unstable menchildren will continue to criticize stuff like this. Best to ignore them.

 

[GymWolf]

Imagine people who are so removed from reality that they can't accept that the show was a massive hit and Ramsey was nominated for a golden globe and an emmy.

I love Tom Hanks. Think he's a national treasure (no pun intended). I love the book series of The Da Vinci Code. I think Tom Hanks could do pretty much any role, but I think he was miscast as Robert Langdon.

Some people like the movies and I think that's fine, but I feel pretty satisfied that Tom Hanks wasn't nominated for anything for either movie and that these movies weren't super well received.

TLOU was cast amazingly well even though Pedro was not my first choice. Bella Ramsey is a great choice and that being said I would have recast her in season 2 as I'm not sure how well she'll be able to play an older Ellie.

Nominations count for nothing when you see a shit movie like emilia perez getting 45 oscar nominations, come the fuck on.

Trusting nominations is like trusting modern videogame media nowadays.

 

[AJUMP23]

First, that a criticism of the story not the character. Second, what made them a great character?

At the end of the day people are just seriously butthurt that a main character gets killed. As if that didn't happen in Game of Thrones or various other media. The real truth is a bit more deep but I won't get into that.

I think criticizing her motivation is criticizing the character. Her character is pretty unrealistic in that after an apocalyptic event you are going to have the ability to buff out and roid rage through everything.

Joel develops in the first game, and goes from great loss and dealing with it to overcoming it and replacing his loss of his daughter with his love of Ellie. he makes selfish decisions. but you can relate to why he chose it.

 

[Gonzito]

Ellie's casting was great as well.

 

[deriks]

I actually think that her was the right choice for the part, while the character model on the game is just plain bullshit

I can see her being strong and stuff in the show, but in the game I really believe they did what they did for the sake of being close to a trans woman

Oh, Bella Ramsey did right as Ellie, but holy shit, why so different from the original face?! I don't think that was that hard to cast a more accurate girl who acts great

 

[Mibu no ookami]

The show's success stemmed from Pedro's exceptional performance. He carried the season. His portrayal was central to the narrative. Notably, the lowest-rated episode, 'Left Behind,' focused on her character.

Again, she was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe. I think it's hilarious that you would use a review bombed episode as evidence that you're right.

In fact there's an episode heavily featuring her the very next episode which is the second highest rated on imdb of the series.

I think criticizing her motivation is criticizing the character. Her character is pretty unrealistic in that after an apocalyptic event you are going to have the ability to buff out and roid rage through everything.

Joel develops in the first game, and goes from great loss and dealing with it to overcoming it and replacing his loss of his daughter with his love of Ellie. he makes selfish decisions. but you can relate to why he chose it.

Criticizing her motivation? I'm not sure you've done that nor have you done it effectively. I think most people who have their parents murdered would seek justice against the murderer.

So your main criticisms again seem to be that she killed a character that you liked (and was entirely justified in doing so) and that you didn't like that she beefed up during the apocalypse.

If you can relate to the selfish decisions that Joel makes but not the decisions that Abby makes, I think that says more about you than the game... I've never seen anyone in the exact situation as Abby get criticized for the decision they made. Litearlly any time something like this happens, 100% of the people understand, but this time there's an exception... Why? Because we liked him, but that's kind of the point of the story. Everyone has a story, everyone has people who like them, everyone has their reasons. Just because you get one person's perspective first shouldn't stop your critical thinking skills.

 

[GymWolf]

Even Kurt angle with a wig would be a better ellie

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I actually think that her was the right choice for the part, while the character model on the game is just plain bullshit

I can see her being strong and stuff in the show, but in the game I really believe they did what they did for the sake of being close to a trans woman

Oh, Bella Ramsey did right as Ellie, but holy shit, why so different from the original face?! I don't think that was that hard to cast a more accurate girl who acts great

lol, what transwomen do you know that look like Abby?

This is the result of taking a description/leak and applying that reasoning to the game. The logic simply doesn't follow though.

 

[AJUMP23]

Again, she was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe. I think it's hilarious that you would use a review bombed episode as evidence that you're right.

In fact there's an episode heavily featuring her the very next episode which is the second highest rated on imdb of the series.



Criticizing her motivation? I'm not sure you've done that nor have you done it effectively. I think most people who have their parents murdered would seek justice against the murderer.

So your main criticisms again seem to be that she killed a character that you liked (and was entirely justified in doing so) and that you didn't like that she beefed up during the apocalypse.

If you can relate to the selfish decisions that Joel makes but not the decisions that Abby makes, I think that says more about you than the game... I've never seen anyone in the exact situation as Abby get criticized for the decision they made. Litearlly any time something like this happens, 100% of the people understand, but this time there's an exception... Why? Because we liked him, but that's kind of the point of the story. Everyone has a story, everyone has people who like them, everyone has their reasons. Just because you get one person's perspective first shouldn't stop your critical thinking skills.

Are you Druckman? Do you work for ND?

If so, do more Uncharted instead.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Are you Druckman? Do you work for ND?

If so, do more Uncharted instead.

Ah, someone makes an argument that you can't refute using logic or facts, and you respond by trying to muddy the discussion instead.

Clever... but not actually clever...

 

[AJUMP23]

Ah, someone makes an argument that you can't refute using logic or facts, and you respond by trying to muddy the discussion instead.

Clever... but not actually clever...

I wasn't trying to argue with you. You asked for more and I kindly gave it to you. I didn't know we were arguing. WE can disagree, you can not like my opinion, that doesn't bother me. But you seem very invested in it. So good luck with your future endeavors. Why would I want to argue about anything especially a game.

I don't care for Abby, that is all. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

 

[RoadHazard]

People who hate on and attack actors for playing a character are retarded. I mean that literally, I don't believe anyone of normal intelligence could be that stupid.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

She's a way better Abby than whatever that abomination in the TLOU 2 game was at least. Also wayyy better than whatever they cast as Ellie in the show.

 

[RoadHazard]

Again, she was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe. I think it's hilarious that you would use a review bombed episode as evidence that you're right.

In fact there's an episode heavily featuring her the very next episode which is the second highest rated on imdb of the series.



Criticizing her motivation? I'm not sure you've done that nor have you done it effectively. I think most people who have their parents murdered would seek justice against the murderer.

So your main criticisms again seem to be that she killed a character that you liked (and was entirely justified in doing so) and that you didn't like that she beefed up during the apocalypse.

If you can relate to the selfish decisions that Joel makes but not the decisions that Abby makes, I think that says more about you than the game... I've never seen anyone in the exact situation as Abby get criticized for the decision they made. Litearlly any time something like this happens, 100% of the people understand, but this time there's an exception... Why? Because we liked him, but that's kind of the point of the story. Everyone has a story, everyone has people who like them, everyone has their reasons. Just because you get one person's perspective first shouldn't stop your critical thinking skills.

You know why. It's because it's a woman who isn't traditionally ladylike and cute. Had it been a man doing the same stuff you wouldn't see even half as much hate.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I wasn't trying to argue with you. You asked for more and I kindly gave it to you. I didn't know we were arguing. WE can disagree, you can not like my opinion, that doesn't bother me. But you seem very invested in it. So good luck with your future endeavors. Why would I want to argue about anything especially a game.

I don't care for Abby, that is all. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Argument -
a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.
"there is a strong argument for submitting a formal appeal"

Making an argument doesn't imply that you are arguing. It's not whether I like your opinion or not (I don't) but the foundation of your opinion is weak and faulty and perhaps worse entirely inconsistent with really all of history in media. Do you hate all characters who get revenge on their parents killers? Do you have any other examples of you hating this?

I'm more invested in you making a decent argument than the game. I personally didn't think TLOUP2 was a masterpiece though it does improve on the first game in many ways. Game design, gameplay, graphics. I felt the pacing was off and I do think a lot of that had to do with the structure of how and when you play as Abby. I also didn't love playing as the character who killed one of my favorite characters, but I never questioned her reasoning for doing so. I wanted revenge on Abby the whole time and everytime I had to play as her, I felt my vengeance was being delayed.

I personally think much of the criticism of the game would have been gone if they had Abby's story as a DLC. I think the game is overly long as a result and it's a big reason why I haven't replayed it even with the PS5 version. I was also disappointed that the remake of the 1st game didn't take a lot of the quality of life advancements of the second game, making me unlikely to want to play the two games on PS5 in the first place. I thought it was a lazy remaster that they called a remake.