As revealed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dever shared how a seemingly innocent skin irritation turned into a major production hurdle. “It’s in the first episode with the Fireflies,” she explained. “I had gone home for a few weeks and got a spider bite on my cheek. I thought it was a pimple. It was not a pimple.”
“It was a huge spider bite and... I hate to use this word, but it was oozing,” she continued. Fortunately, the visual effects team stepped in with top-tier CGI to conceal the injury. “You can’t even tell it is there,” she said, though added, “I still have a scar on my face because they had to cut it out.”
Beyond physical challenges, Dever also discussed channeling raw emotion into one of the season's most intense scenes. The performance came shortly after the passing of her mother from cancer. “I had to fly out three days after her funeral. And the fourth day was that scene in the chalet with the Fireflies,” she recalled. “It felt like I got to experience it as a first-time viewer. I’d see things and go, 'Oh, yeah. Grief does a really interesting thing with your brain. It messes with your memory.’”
Meanwhile, HBO continues to celebrate the global success of The Last of Us. Following the release of Season 2, the series has attracted over 90 million viewers worldwide since the end of Season 1. In the U.S., the Season 2 finale pulled in 3.7 million cross-platform viewers, while the premiere drew 5.3 million. Although this represents a drop-off from the debut to the conclusion of the season, Warner Bros. anticipates a significant increase in the finale’s final numbers due to lower viewing activity around the Memorial Day holiday.
For context, the Season 1 finale set a high bar with 8.2 million viewers—a benchmark that Season 2 still needs to surpass.
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Recent statements from showrunner Craig Mazin suggest that The Last of Us will likely require a fourth season to fully conclude its narrative arc. While Season 3 may be longer than its predecessor, Mazin made it clear that wrapping up the storylines from both Naughty Dog games within just three seasons isn't feasible. He and Neil Druckmann also admitted that even they don’t yet know exactly how much screen time fan-favorite characters will ultimately receive moving forward.
