“Embrace the Roller Coaster of Emotions”: ‘The Last of Us’ Stars Isabela Merced and Young Mazino on the Devastation to Come in Season 2

[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of The Last of Us.]

In Season 2 of the HBO series ‘The Last of Us,’ Dina brings light-heartedness to the series, acting as a bond between Joel and Ellie.
Jesse admires Ellie’s loyalty and strength but aims to temper her fiery nature.
Characters will be tested, offering a mirror for the audience’s morals and values, leaving fans devastated.

The seven-episode second season of the HBO series The Last of Us takes place five years after the events of the first season, with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) living with a community of survivors in Jackson, Wyoming, alongside Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley). Two of the residents there are Dina (Isabela Merced), a young woman with a sense of humor, a friendship with Joel, and a bond with Ellie, and Jesse (Young Mazino), Dina’s ex, a friend of Ellie’s and the one responsible for overseeing patrol. And while their community stays prepared and ready to deal with whatever might come their way in this post-apocalyptic world, they may not be as ready for what’s coming as they think they are.

During this interview with Collider, co-stars Merced and Mazino discussed whether they’d played the video game, why they were drawn to their characters, how Dina is Joel’s access point to Ellie, getting silly on set with Pascal, what Jesse sees in Ellie, the scene at the dance, that every character will be tested in Season 2, and how fans will feel after watching the finale.

Check back for more interviews with the cast and creators every day this week.

‘The Last of Us’ Co-Stars Isabela Merced and Young Mazino Had Both Played the Video Game

“Craig [Mazin] told me he wished I didn’t play the game at all.”

Collider: When the possibility of doing this came your way, were you guys fans of the first season? Had you played the game?

YOUNG MAZINO: I played the game the night before my meeting with Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann], and then Craig told me he wished I didn’t play the game at all. I was aware of the first game, early on, when I watched all the scenes in movie style. And then, I watched the first season. So, there was a lot of material that I had in my mind by the time the meeting came around. But I think Craig did such a great job elevating the story to adapt it into a series, so it felt familiar and yet fresh at the same time.

ISABELA MERCED: I played the game as well. I also watched a bunch of YouTube videos about it and all the theories.

RelatedSeason 2 finds beautiful ways to update what might very well be the best video game narrative ever told.

What were you each most drawn to with your characters?

MERCED: I was really drawn to the fact that she’s one of the few characters with an intent and a purposeful sense of humor. I think a lot of characters are unintentionally funny. Dina chooses to find the joy in all things and really bring things up and makes it less dark and heavy.

MAZINO: I love that Jesse is this very reliable, stalwart, levelheaded, cool, calm, collected dude because my last series, I played quite the opposite, with a very unhinged, chaotic energy. It was nice to experience a different character.

Isabela, when we meet Dina, she’s got enough of a relationship with Joel that she manages to get him to admit he’s in therapy, which it seems like he wouldn’t do with everybody. What was it like to find their dynamic? Is she filling a bit of that void that Ellie has left?

MERCED: Yeah. I think they do feel comfortable with each other. She is his access point to Ellie, as much as he is her access point to Ellie. They both care for and love Ellie. That’s how they bond. Also, at the same time, they don’t have as much history, so it’s easier for them to keep it light and honest. It’s like a blank slate, in a way. They can create the person that they want the other to see.

Pedro Pascal Doesn’t Take Himself Too Seriously on ‘The Last of Us’ Set

“For once, I felt like I was the least silly one in the room.”

Image via HBO

What is it like to play those moments with Pedro Pascal?

MERCED: We’re both quite silly on set. It was interesting because, for once, I felt like I was the least silly one in the room. It was really interesting to witness him. Obviously, he’s very professional, but you could tell that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. I think that’s the key to how he’s such a good actor. If you don’t take yourself too seriously, then you can play more with your role. To see him switch that Joel character on was really fascinating because he’s not like him, really at all. He really just transforms. To see how his mannerisms change and his posture and everything is really fascinating.

Young, what does Jesse see in Ellie? She’s an asset, but she is also somebody who you can’t really control. Does he have a real sense of her strengths and her weaknesses?

MAZINO: Yeah. I think it’s evident in the opening scene where Jesse’s overseeing her grappling training and has to reach out and remind Ellie to take it down a notch. But he has a lot of respect for Ellie, as a fellow outsider that has had to adapt to a community. He really recognizes the fierce loyalty that Ellie has for the people that she cares about. He respects the fire that’s in Ellie, but I think Jesse’s a bit more tempered. For the sake of longevity, I think he tries to impart that upon Ellie.

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RelatedRamsey also talks about the frustration and distance Ellie is experiencing when it comes to Joel.

What can you say about the relationship between your characters? Clearly, there’s a lot that’s been going on between these two before we meet them. Did you guys talk about their relationship and flesh that out?

MERCED: It was pretty much all [in the script].

MAZINO: It was in the writing.

MERCED: Yeah, and in the game as well. The situationship dynamic is very evident. More than anything, we had an opportunity to create our own because we’re different people and we’re different actors with different styles of acting. There was a new chemistry that flourished from that.

There’s something so interesting about the dance because so many things are going on. We learn so much about everybody. We learn about how Ellie feels about herself and how Dina sees her. What was it like to figure out that dynamic in that moment and to figure out what the kiss would be?

MERCED: It’s a very natural moment. I don’t think it’s contrived at all. At least the way it felt while filming it, I don’t think there were ulterior motives. I think it was a very natural, beautiful moment, and that’s why it’s so cherished. It was also a rare moment of sincerity and vulnerability, and a true expression of deeper feelings. I think that’s also why, moving forward, maybe they won’t really address it very much. It ended in shame, and because of that, it was tainted a little bit.

In the World of ‘The Last of Us,’ Anything Can Happen At Any Moment

Image via HBO

How prepared are your characters for what’s coming this season? Do they think they’re better prepared than they really are?

MAZINO: In this world, you can prepare as much as you can and be as ready as possible, but anything can happen at any moment. It’s very fleeting.

MERCED: There are so many worlds within the world that people are willing to defend at any cost. What’s more confusing and more shocking is that your reality of each character is tested and questioned and flipped upside down on its head. Seeing the characters go through that and having the opportunity to portray that in a character, with that kind of arc and devastation of reality and truth is so rewarding. It was so much fun. It really offers a really clear mirror to the audience who, themselves, might be sure about their morals and values, but I promise you, they will be tested.

Related”We certainly are aware of where it all has to end, so we’re working backwards and towards that, at the same time,” says showrunner Craig Mazin.

How do you think fans will feel after they see the last episode of this season?

MAZINO: I think people will be quite devastated. Devastation is the word I would use.

MERCED: Seeing the season myself, my feelings change so often because it’s so deep. Your feelings about it will evolve with time as well. I really encourage everyone who takes time to watch this series to really embrace the roller coaster of emotions because the more you lean into it and these momentary, temporary feelings, the more you will learn about yourself and the more rewarding the journey will be once we come to the end and the truth is revealed.

I feel like I will be crying and cursing at the same time, by the time I get to the end of the season.

MERCED: For me, it was the kind of crying where you cry heavily, you stop and think you’re over it, and then you see one thing and, all of a sudden, you’re bawling harder than you did before.