Kaitlyn Dever Says Andrew Garfield Helped Her Process Grief After Her Mother’s Death

Kaitlyn Dever has shared how Andrew Garfield’s words about grief helped her after her mother passed away from breast cancer. In an interview with GQ, Dever said she often rewatched Garfield’s 2021 conversation with Stephen Colbert, where he said, “This grief stays with me because it’s all of the unexpressed love that I didn’t get to tell her.”

Dever’s mother died shortly before she filmed a key scene for HBO’s The Last of Us, where her character Abby talks about finding her father’s body. “I had just experienced [my loss],” Dever said. “So that was a crazy line to repeat over and over again because I had just seen her.”

She called her mother her “best friend” and explained how Garfield’s approach to loss gave her perspective: “I’d look at Andrew and think, ‘Well, his life seems to be moving forwards.’”

Garfield’s own mother died in 2019, just before he filmed Tick, Tick… Boom!, and he spoke publicly about using art to process grief: “I’m indebted… so that I can honour [my mum] through my art, and use it as a way to heal.”

Dever also said the experience shaped how she approached the role and grief itself.