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Kaitlyn Dever is a personal favorite and I’d be thrilled to see her in absolutely any film, show or stage production she wants. But really, she’s just such a perfect fit for the role of Ellie in the The Last of Us. There’s been talk of an adaptation of the Naughty Dog game for years now, but just recently news broke that it could be the real deal over at HBO. Last month it was reported that Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann signed on to make a The Last Of Us TV series for HBO.

With that announcement came a brand new slew of fan-casting articles and one name that popped up on a lot of lists for the role of Ellie was Dever’s. As is usually the case with fan-casting lists, yes, Dever looks the part and she’s also certainly got the acting chops to pull it off, but if the opportunity ever really came her way, would she even be interested?

Dever was our latest guest on the live interview series Collider Connected and there was no way I was passing on the opportunity to ask her about the incredible amount of online enthusiasm for her to score the role. Here’s what she said told me when I asked if she’s aware of the hype:

“Well, this is the first time I’m being asked about this. Listen, I am a huge fan of the game, and I don’t know if a lot of people know that, but I’m saying it now; I am a huge fan of that video game. I think it is a beautiful story. It’s just a wonderful narrative, and I fell in love with that game when it came out. And I played it with my dad and we just had the best time. I’m not very good at it. My aim is really bad, but I’m working on getting better at playing. But I love The Last of Us. I think it’s an incredible story.



I obviously have been seeing the Internet, and I’ve obviously been seeing a lot of that. Neil Druckmann, I worked with him on Uncharted 4. I think he’s one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met, and one of the sweetest. And I’m not shutting it down, you know? I’m not shutting it down. I would absolutely love to do that. But I don’t know where it’s at yet. But I love The Last Of Us.”

And of course, Ellie isn’t the only major role Mazin and Druckmann will need to fill. There’s also Joel. Who can Dever picture taking that part? Check out what she told us:

“There’s so many people that would be so great for that role! I’ve seen the fan casts of Hugh Jackman as Joel. I like that one. And I also know Hugh and I’ve worked with Hugh and I think he’s the nicest guy in the world so I think he should be in everything.”

A The Last of Us HBO series starring Kaitlyn Dever and Hugh Jackman? I’m all in! It’s still unclear when things will really ramp up for this production, but it’s about time we get a Last of Us adaptation, so hopefully they see the project through to fruition sooner rather than later.

The Last of Us was only a small part of our conversation with Dever for Collider Connected. Click here to give the full interview a watch to hear Dever discuss her early acting experiences, what it was like working on Unbelievable (which is a must-watch on Netflix), Short Term 12, Booksmart and so much more!