The Last of Us TV show actor was advised to watch the games, but she played them both in a single weekend instead - and she's glad she did

The actor playing Dina in The Last of Us season 2 reveals she was advised to watch cutscenes to better understand her character, but she played the games instead.

In an interview with Flaunt, Isabela Merced - who's currently filming the role of Ellie's romantic interest - shares how she prepared to become Dina in the Naughty Dog adaptation. According to the outlet, Merced was "a huge fan" of the first season of the post-apocalyptic drama and to prepare for her audition, she played both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2 in one weekend.

The actor says it was a tricky process as she wasn't aware of the character she was auditioning for - the only instruction was to look into the games to see its characters. "I guess I could've just gotten on YouTube and watched scenes from the game," she explains, "but it’s just so different. I am so glad I did play the game because now when I am on these sets that look just like the game, I am familiar with it."

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Merced also discussed her co-star Bella Ramsey, who played Ellie in the first season of the show. "I got some really good advice from Bella," she reveals. "She really just laid it all out there and her advice has been great and true. They put people first on this set, and that’s a really lovely and often rare thing to see in this industry."

Merced isn't the only newcomer being introduced in season 2. Alongside Dina, the second season will introduce The Last of Us Part 2's dual protagonist Abby, played by Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever, and Dina's former fling Jesse, portrayed by Beef's Young Mazino. Fan favorites Ramsey and Pedro Pascal have also been confirmed to be returning, but season 2 will sometimes be "radically" different from the game - so don't start predicting the character's outcomes just yet.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is currently being filmed in Canada and is expected to release sometime in 2025.

Find out what else we've got to look forward to with our upcoming video game movies list.

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After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.