The Last of Us fans are convinced The Wilds’ Shannon Berry is playing Abby in season 2
The Last of Us fans are convinced that Shannon Berry will be playing Abby Anderson in season two (Getty Images/ Naughty Dog)
The Last of Us fans are speculating that The Wilds actress Shannon Berry will be taking on the role of Abby in season two of HBO’s hit TV adaptation – here’s why.
While The Last of Us has served up plenty of devastating storylines over the past few weeks, the 2020 sequel to The Last of Us video game is arguably even more traumatic than its predecessor.
Without giving too much away, the second game follows Ellie and partner Dina, and newcomer Abby, across the post-apocalyptic, fungus-ridden United States on a horrific mission – and while HBO’s current series covers the events of the first game, the brutal, bloody quests for revenge at the centre of The Last of Us: Part Two look set to the make the second instalment of the TV adaptation all the more harrowing.
Although there’s been no casting announcements yet for characters in season two, fans are absolutely convinced that episode six of The Last of Us gave us a glimpse at Ellie’s future girlfriend, Dina. And now, the rumour mill is in overdrive once again, with viewers claiming that they’ve found their Abby: Shannon Berry.
Who is Shannon Berry?
TV fans will probably recognise Berry from Amazon Prime’s hit queer drama The Wilds, in which she played Dot, a tough Texan with wilderness survival skills who cared for her dying father. Although the series only ran for two seasons, it featured much-needed queer representation, which explains why fans were devastated when it was axed in 2022.
Queerness, survival skills and a hardened character: do those factors sound familiar?
Berry is also queer. Per Autostraddle, the actress came out in a tweet in 2020.
Given that The Last of Us has a surprisingly high level of LGBTQ+ representation, with episode seven giving us an insight into Ellie’s tragic romance with Riley, it would make sense to add even more diversity to the cast with a queer actress.
Who is Abby?
In The Last of Us: Part Two, Abby Anderson spearheads a mission alongside Ellie’s own personal quest for revenge.
A strong leader, robust soldier and vicious fighter, Abby is part of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF/Wolves), a militia group intent on taking down the corrupt, fascist FEDRA (the official government response branch to the Cordyceps pandemic).
Abby’s story kicks off with her exacting revenge for events that occur at the end of the first game.
It then follows her entanglement with the vicious, cult-like Seraphites, or Scars as they’re known to the WLF, and her eventual alliance with two young defectors from the group – one of whom is Levi, a trans boy who is exiled for cutting off his hair.
Why do fans think Shannon Berry will be cast as Abby in The Last of Us season 2?
For a start, Neil Druckmann, the co-creator of the original games and a director, executive producer and writer on the TV adaptation, already follows her on Instagram.
In addition, Berry has recently followed the show’s two main stars, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, as well as Druckmann and the official The Last of Us account.
The biggest reason why fans suspect Berry will play Abby, though, is that the actress bears a striking resemblance to the character, particularly when factoring in Berry’s appearance in The Wilds.
Berry is 23, and Abby is around that age (a few years older than Ellie) during the game. Berry also has the potential to be more physically imposing than other suggested castings, such as Little Women star Florence Pugh.
Abby’s sheer physicality is a large part of her character, as she’s a lot stronger and taller than Ellie.
How have fans reacted to the rumours that Abby will be played by Shannon Berry?
As you’d expect, with much excitement.
Fans have called the supposed casting “uncanny”, with one even making a montage of Abby’s scenes from the game spliced together with some of Berry’s scenes from The Wilds.
We have to say: we can’t not see it.
(Stop the below video at 0:16 to avoid spoilers!)
