Merced and Mazino are the remaining two of three major additions for the post-apocalyptic drama's upcoming second season. The series is based on the video game of the same name developed by Naughty Dog for PlayStation. The third new casting, announced last week, is Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.
Merced (pictured) plays Dina, Ellie's new romantic interest and Jesse's ex. Dina is a free spirit whose devotion to Ellie is tested by the cruelty of the world they live in.
Mazino plays Jesse, a pillar of his community who puts the needs of others above his own, sometimes at terrible cost.
“Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable,” said Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us‘ co-creators, writers, executive producers and directors. “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.”
"Young is one of those rare actors who is unmistakable the moment you see him," Mazin and Druckmann say about the actor. “We're so happy to have him and we can't wait for audiences to see Young shine in our series.”
In the game The Last of Us Part II, on which the second season of the series is based, Dina and Jesse are played by Shannon Woodward and Stephen Chang.
This is a reunion for Dever and Merced, who co-starred in the 2022 film Rosaline.
Merced, known for the title role in Dora and the Lost City of Gold and starring opposite Jason Momoa in Sweet Girl, voiced a character in the recent animated film Migration. She stars in a string of major upcoming films, including Sony's Madame Web, the Fede Alvarez-directed Alien: Romulus, action thriller Ballerina Overdrive, Hannah Marks' Turtles All the Way Down and DC's Superman: Legacy.
Mazino (photo) was seen last year in the Netflix series Beef. He has also guest-starred in series such as Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods and Blindspot. He can soon be seen in the horror film Opus with Ayo Edebiri, John Malkovich and Murray Bartlett.
The story of The Last of Us takes place twenty years after modern civilization was destroyed. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a fourteen-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job quickly becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they both cross the US and rely on each other for survival.
In March it was announced that season two will be filmed in Vancouver, as a major part of the story in the video game The Last of Us Part II takes place in the Pacific Northwest. Production on the series, co-produced by HBO and Sony Pictures Television, will begin in February.
The Last of Us was written and produced by Mazin and Druckmann. Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Rose Lam also produce.
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