Isabela Merced cast as Dina in The Last of Us season 2

Another lead in The Last of Us Part II has been cast for its TV adaptation. The second season of HBO’s The Last of Us has found its Dina in Instant Family’s Isabela Merced.

The news, tweeted by Max and Naughty Dog, is the third casting for the new season in the past few days. The first was Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, and soon after, Beef‘s Young Mazino as Jesse.

Creators Neil Druckmann and showrunner/director Craig Mazin talked about Merced and Dina with Variety, saying “Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous, and instantly lovable. 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.”

The video game adaptation, starring Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones), is fresh off winning eight Creative Emmys and is nominated for five main Primetime Emmy awards, including Best Drama. The show was a massive hit for HBO and fans alike. This new season is expected to adapt the events of The Last of Us Part II, which was released in 2020 to critical praise.

Dina, according to an official description by Variety, is said to be “a free-wheeling spirit whose devotion to Ellie will be tested by the brutality of the world they inhabit.” Shannon Woodward (Westworld) voiced the role for the game, while Cascina Caradonna was the face model. The character plays a huge role in the sequel, as a romantic interest for both Ellie and Jesse.

Making Things Click

Isabela Merced is a pretty big actress, if her resume is anything to go by. Breaking onto the scene with films like Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Transformers: The Last Knight, her title role in Dora and the Lost City of Gold shot her to stardom. Now, one can find her appearing in some big franchises in the future, like Alien (Alien: Romulus) DC (Superman: Legacy), and Spider-Man (Madame Web).

With such a busy schedule, it’s impressive that Merced is doing this big a role while filming franchise titles. I, for one, can’t wait to see her take on a character as deep and strong as Dina.

Season two of The Last of Us is scheduled to film later this year and release sometime next year. Odds are, with HBO’s cadence of casting announcements, there’s probably still more to come. If you want to refresh yourself on Dina’s part in the games, The Last of Us Part II Remastered arrives for PS5 next week on January 19.