The Last of Us Showrunner Responds to the Kaitlyn Dever Casting Uproar

Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, and we’re certainly not opposed to more big-armed women on television, but for anyone complaining that Dever isn’t “built like a [large, sturdy object],” please note that the showrunners, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, have actually already addressed this.

In February 2025, Druckmann, who also co-wrote the original game, told Entertainment Weekly, “We would’ve struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role…Kaitlyn has the spirit of the game in her…When you look at Kaitlyn, there’s just something in her eyes where, even no matter what she’s experiencing, you connect. It was important that we found somebody that we could connect to the way we connect to [series star] Bella [Ramsey].”

Added Mazin, “I personally think that there is an amazing opportunity here to delve into someone who is perhaps physically more vulnerable than the Abby in the game, but whose spirit is stronger. And then the question is, ‘Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest?’ That’s something that will be explored now and later.”