It’s been a big week for The Last of Us Season 2, as yet another character — Dina — has been cast for the next season of the HBO video game adaptation.
Variety has reported that Isabela Merced will be playing Dina in The Last of Us’ second season. This is another major project for Merced, who has starred in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Migration and is in this year’s Madame Web and Alien: Romulus. Introduced in The Last of Us Part II (where she was played by Shannon Woodward), Dina lives on the Jackson settlement alongside Ellie at the beginning of the game and is Ellie’s romantic partner throughout.
“Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable,” series co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin stated. “You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away. We couldn’t be prouder to have her join our family.”
Earlier this week, the characters of Jesse and Abby were also cast for the new season.
The series is executive produced and co-written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and original game writer Neil Druckmann, who is also serving as one of the directors. It is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television in association with PlayStation Productions. Executive producers are Carolyn Strauss, Naughty Dog President Evan Wells, and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan.
Who stars in The Last of Us?
The Last of Us currently stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller, and Rutina Wesley as Maria. Season 2 is expected to be based on Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video game sequel The Last of Us Part II, which will feature a significant time jump introducing a now grown-up Ellie.
Season 1 also featured Nico Parker, Anna Torv, Melanie Lynskey, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, and Storm Reid. It also included guest-star appearances from the original video game’s actors Jeffrey Pierce, Merle Dandridge, Troy Baker, and Ashley Johnson as new characters.
