Kaitlyn Dever bagged an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Abby in The Last of Us Season 2, and Laura Bailey — who played the character in the video game series the show is based on — has reacted to Dever’s performance. Bailey’s performance as Abby in the games received critical praise. However, the character became the subject of online controversy due to Abby’s role in another fan-favorite character’s death. Despite this, the voice actress earned multiple awards, such as the Game Award for Best Performance.
Laura Bailey’s reaction to Kaitlyn Dever’s Emmy nomination explained
In an interview at the 2025 San Diego Comic-Con, Laura Bailey praised Kaitlyn Dever’s portrayal of Abby in The Last of Us Season 2. She also commended what Dever brought to the performance.
“She’s just phenomenal,” Bailey told Entertainment Weekly. “Every moment that I saw that she was in, I just loved how much she brought to the character and made it her own.”
Bailey likened the experience of watching Dever’s take on Abby to that of seeing a child take their first steps. “Once you put it out there, it’s somebody else’s and she’s just embraced it,” she added.
Bailey’s Abby was introduced in The Last of Us Part II. In the game, she serves as one of the two playable protagonists alongside Ellie (Ashley Johnson). She is the daughter of a Firefly surgeon who attempted to operate on Ellie in hopes of finding a cure for the Cordyceps virus. However, he is killed by Joel, who had learnt that Ellie’s surgery would kill her. Joel then escapes from the hospital with Ellie, while Abby mourns her father’s death. Following this, she begins planning her revenge against Joel, and eventually succeeds in tracking down and murdering him.
Bailey’s performance as Abby received praise but also became the subject of online hate. Some users even went as far as to issue death threats against the actress, which she shared online.
Bailey opened up about the impact of the death threats in the documentary Grounded II. In it, The Legend of Vox Machina star also revealed that users threatened her son, born during the game’s production and release.
“The worst of it, the really like hardcore death threats, they got passed along and they… You know, made sure that they weren’t anyone that lived close by,” Bailey stated. “Yeah, they were like threatening my son, who was born during all of it, and yeah, it was rough.” (via Insider Gaming)
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon.
