After two other consecutive casting announcements, Max and Naughty Dog have revealed that Isabela Merced will play Ellie’s girlfriend Dina in The Last of Us’ second season, which is set to premiere on the streaming service in 2025. Sorry to anyone who wanted it to be that girl we saw staring at Ellie in that one scene in season one.
Like Abby and Jesse before, the announcement rolled out first on Max’s social channels confirming Merced is joining the cast on January 11, followed by a second post from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog stating that she’s playing Dina.
Some of Merced’s notable acting credits include playing Dora in the live-action Dora the Explorer film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, and Izabella in Transformers: The Last Knight. Later this year, she’ll appear in Madame Web as Anya Corazon, and next year she’ll play Hawkgirl in Superman: Legacy. She’s recently done a lot of franchise work—so she’ll be somewhat comfortable in the world of TLOU.
During the first season, fans thought Dina had already made an appearance in the show after a young girl who kind of looked like her was shown staring at Ellie when she and Joel first arrived in the Jackson community. Whether it was meant to be her or not, the actor in the scene, Paolina van Kleef, is not playing Dina in season two.
If you’ve never played the games, Dina is easily one of the standout characters in The Last of Us Part II. She’s Ellie’s girlfriend, one of the most reliable sources of comic relief, and embodies some of the game’s larger themes in the eleventh hour. There are still a lot of characters in The Last of Us Part II who have yet to have actors confirmed for the adaptation—but all we really want is for Max to announce that game actor Ian Alexander will step into the role of Lev again, this time for the TV series. Thank you.