Kaitlyn Dever Says One 'The Last of Us' Season Two Scene Was Almost Impossible to Watch
Kaitlyn Dever recalls filming Joel’s death in ‘The Last of Us’ season two, saying Bella Ramsey’s grief was too hard to watch.
Kaitlyn Dever is opening up about one of the hardest scenes in The Last of Us season two. At HBO Max’s Emmy Nominee Celebration in Hollywood on August 17, the cast and creators reflected on episode two, where Dever’s character Abby kills Joel, played by 
Pedro Pascal.
Dever admitted she “couldn’t watch” 
Bella Ramsey’s Ellie break down over Joel’s body, calling the performance so powerful she had to leave the room. While fans saw Abby as brutal, Dever said her focus was showing Abby’s grief and humanity. “She’s not just this evil person,” Dever explained, noting that Abby spent years obsessing over what she would do when face-to-face with Joel.
Pascal said working with Dever on the scene felt like an intense but rewarding partnership, while co-creator Craig Mazin praised her emotional precision. Dever, in turn, credited Pascal and Ramsey for grounding the sequence with their own performances.