Summary

  • Dina's backstory expands in The Last of Us Season 2 to delve into her Jewish faith and past struggles.
  • Actress Isabela Merced isn't worried about homophobic backlash toward Dina and Ellie's relationship.
  • Merced reveals that Dina's connection with Joel will be more meaningful in the upcoming season.

Now, with just days to go before fans can finally get their eyes on The Last of Us Season 2, Isabela Merced, who plays Dina, explains how HBO expands Dina's backstory from the game and admits that she's actually looking forward to the impending homophobic comments regarding her relationship with Ellie.

In The Last of Us Season 2, Dina is portrayed by actress and singer Isabela Merced, who has starred in movies that include Alien: Romulus and Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Regarding LGBTQ+ relationships in The Last of Us, the HBO series received backlash in season one's 'Long, Long, Time' episode, which told the beautiful story of Bill and Frank, with some viewers going as far as review-bombing it on IMDb due to "political propaganda." However, Merced isn't one bit worried about the same thing happening to her and isn't scared about what some people may throw at her because of Dina's relationship with Ellie.

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The Last of Us Season 2’s Star Isn’t Worried about Homophobia Comments regarding Dina

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Isabela Merced as Dina in 'The Last of Us' Season 2.
HBO

Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Merced opens up about what fans can expect in The Last of Us Season 2 regarding her character Dina. In The Last of Us Part 2, Dina's backstory isn't overly touched upon, although through conversations with Ellie, players find out that Dina was orphaned at a young age, leading her older sister, Talia, to look after her and that they used to attend a synagogue together to pray, a practice that Dina continued. However, Merced reveals that Dina's backstory will be touched upon at greater length this time around. "Dina in the game doesn't really have a lot of backstory. It's devastating and it's also inspiring, like, ‘My people survived, so I can survive this.’ It's really beautiful," Merced said. "We get to expand upon her story a little bit more in this season.”

Merced also hinted that fans of the sequel might get that beautiful and touching moment from the synagogue scene, in some fashion, where Dina explains her Jewish faith. Naturally, she can't spoil anything from the upcoming season, but Merced did reveal that there would be some kind of recreation. “I will say, though, I really appreciated that sequence in the game because it revealed so much and it made her multi-dimensional and layered and vulnerable. I think the creators, Neil and Craig, will be giving us more of that. I just can't say how.”

Touching upon Dina's love story with Ellie in Season 2, Merced can't understand what the big deal is or why some viewers would make homophobic comments about it. “I'm kind of looking forward to the backlash,” Merced says. “I don't know how to describe it. I'm not scared because the gays have existed since the beginning of time. The thing is, if you have the gays, you have the world as well. If you have their support, you are fine.”

“The game was made so long ago. Gays have existed since the beginning of time, they were always there. I don't really see what the problem is. I don't see what we're trying to say or complain about. Not only that, it's just a beautiful story. If anything isn't successful, I promise you it’s because of the quality of the work, not because of themes. Any theme can be done properly if it's done by a good artist and executed with care and consideration. I guess everything in this story ends with tragedy. However, in my opinion, this is a successful sapphic story. It's beautiful and we win in the end. There's a lot of winning for this sapphic couple. I'm just really, really excited for people to see that.”

Recently, Merced discussed how Dina's relationship with Joel is a lot more meaningful in Season 2 than it ever was in the Naughty Dog game, The Last of Us Part 2. In the game, players barely see Joel and Dina interact, although they are seen in the same room, especially in the barn dance scene at Jackson where she and Ellie share a romantic embrace. However, Merced does state that Dina and Joel would have interacted more than what was shown due to how close Dina is with Ellie.

The Last of Us Season 2 makes its premiere on HBO on April 13, 2025.

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The Last of Us
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TV-MA
Drama
Action
Horror
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Release Date
January 15, 2023
Network
HBO
Showrunner
Craig Mazin
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3 Images
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Gabriel Luna as Tommy looking to the side next to Bella Ramsey looking shocked in The Last of Us
Ellie wanders through an abandoned building with a gun in The Last Of Us season 2
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Cast

See All
  • instar53504431.jpg
    Pedro Pascal
    Joel Miller
  • instar53365426.jpg
    Bella Ramsey
    Ellie Williams

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Directors
Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, Ali Abbasi, Mark Mylod, Stephen Williams, Jasmila Žbanić, Liza Johnson, Nina Lopez-Corrado
Writers
Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, Halley Wegryn Gross
Franchise(s)
The Last of Us
Creator(s)
Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin

Source: Entertainment Weekly