Looks like The Last of Us showrunners have found their Abby – but they're not ready to tell us who it is

Looks like The Last of Us showrunners have found their Abby Anderson ahead of season 2 – but we're not going to find out who they've cast anytime soon. 

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-creator Craig Mazin appeared to hint that he and Neil Druckmann had filled the role and were preparing to announce the news before the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike hit.

"[It] stopped us in our tracks. Things were in process," he told the publication. "Look, Abby was the first role that we wanted to tackle. We've got a pretty good track record of making major cast announcements and people going, 'Really?' which will probably continue. So people may disagree, but I think we got it right so far and the audience seems to feel we got it right."

In The Last of Us Part II, the original PlayStation game, players switch between controlling Joel, Ellie, and Abby, as it explores the gut-wrenching repercussions of grief and revenge. Upon its release, some gamers criticized this, claiming that it robbed them of time spent with the characters they'd grown to care about from the first chapter: Ellie and Joel. Others, however, praised the title for its bold, thought-provoking take on the concept of heroes and villains.

Last we heard, The Wilds' Shannon Berry had been linked to the role of Abby, after the eagle-eyed among us spotted Naughty Dog president Druckmann, who wrote the games, following the Aussie actor on Instagram – and her returning the favor, too. We'll have to wait and see whether their theorizing proves to be accurate, or whether it was all just a coincidence. Elsewhere, fans have championed House of the Dragon's Emma D'Arcy for the part.

The Last of Us airs on HBO and HBO Max in the US, and Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK. Ahead of season 2, check out our breakdown of The Last of Us season 1 ending, our chat with Joel voice actor Troy Baker, or a snippet of our interview with Frank actor Murray Bartlett.