Isabela Merced played both parts of The Last of Us all weekend to check in on casting for the HBO series

Mercedes plays Dina in the second season of "The Last of Us" - a new love interest for Ellie.

In an interview with Flaunt (via Games Radar), the actress said that she was a "big fan" of the first season of the post-apocalyptic series and really wanted to be part of the second. She was advised to rewatch the cutscenes to better understand the character - instead, she just played The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2 all weekend. Prior to this, Mercedes knew almost nothing about the character.

"I could probably just go on YouTube and watch scenes from the game," she explains. "But it's completely different. I'm glad I played because now on set she looks just like in the game. I feel like I know her."

Isabela also says that she often received useful advice from Bella Ramsey, who continues to play Ellie in the second season.

Mercedes is not the only newcomer introduced in the continuation of "The Last of Us" Caitlin Divver will play Abby, and Young Mazino will play Jesse. Pedro Pascal will also return as Joel (but probably not for long, given the game's plot). At the same time, the second season may differ radically from the original story, so it's better to wait for the continuation of the adaptation. Earlier, HBO denied rumors that Pascal had finished his work on the series.

HBO also introduced a new team of directors who joined the second season of "The Last of Us" - led by Mark Mylod, who worked on "Successors" and "Game of Thrones." Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann remain showrunners and executive producers of the show.

The filming of the second season of The Last of Us series is currently taking place in Canada, with a premiere expected somewhere in 2025.

• The debut season of the show, based on the events of the game The Last of Us, released for the PS3 in 2013, consisted of 9 episodes, which constantly broke viewing records during broadcasts. Over time, "The Last of Us" became the most watched series on HBO of all time, and received 24 Emmy nominations (eventually the series won 8 trophies). The renewal of the show was announced two weeks after the release of the last episode in March. And already in August, the co-authors announced as many as 4 seasons for the post-apocalyptic show.