Recent discussions about Abby's debut in The Last of Us Season 2 largely missed an unexpected detail: actor Kaitlyn Dever required CGI face alterations due to a (shudder) spider bite incident.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times about filming the hit HBO series, Dever revealed the production team had to digitally conceal an "oozing" (shudder x2) bite mark sustained between shoots during her Fireflies storyline scenes.
"It's in my first Fireflies episode," Dever explained. "Between filming blocks, I developed what I thought was a pimple on my cheek. Turned out to be a massive spider bite."
"The swelling was... I hate this word... oozing," she continued. "The VFX team worked magic - completely invisible in the final cut. I still have a facial scar from the medical procedure to remove it."
Dever also reflected on channeling anguish for *that* pivotal chalet scene, filmed just four days after her mother's cancer-related funeral.
"I flew back three days post-funeral. That fourth day was the intensive Fireflies confrontation scene," she recalled. "The experience remains hazy - almost like watching it as a first-time viewer. Grief does strange things to memory and perception."
HBO reports staggering viewership statistics, with the series attracting over 90 million global viewers since Season 1 concluded. The Season 2 finale drew 3.7 million U.S. cross-platform viewers - notably lower than the premiere's 5.3 million but expected to rise post-Memorial Day weekend. For context, Season 1's finale set a series record with 8.2 million viewers - a benchmark Season 2 didn't reach.
Every IGN The Last of Us Review
View 17 Images
Showrunner Craig Mazin recently confirmed Season 4 will be necessary to properly conclude the adaptation, stating that compressing the remaining narrative into Season 3 would prove impossible. While Season 3 may get extended, Mazin and Neil Druckmann admit uncertainty about certain characters' future screen time in the unfolding story.
