The Last Of Us Season 2 Star Discusses Her "Unhealthy Obsession" With Video Games

Isabela Merced joins the cast of HBO's The Last of Us for its upcoming second season, and the actress has now commented on how she has an "unhealthy obsession" with video games.

Merced told The Hollywood Reporter that when she was in a relationship with her now-ex, she would play video games until 4 AM every night. "So I have a very unhealthy obsession with video games, and I told myself I wouldn't get a PS5," she said.

However, when Merced got the call about playing Dina in The Last of Us, she called a friend who had a PS5 and played The Last of Us: Part II in just a couple days. "I had already watched the show, and so I went to my friend's house and I played it all in one weekend on the PS5," she said. "It was amazing. I did 25 hours of gameplay. It was wild, but so much fun. So I really liked the second game, but I haven't played the first game yet. Only the second."

Merced is one of several new cast members for The Last of Us Season 2. She joins Kaitlyn Dever (Abby) and Young Mazino (Jesse), in addition to another star to be revealed later.

While fans have to wait a while longer to see Merced play Dina, she stars in the upcoming Madame Web movie that comes to theaters on February 16.

The Last of Us Season 2 will cover at least some of the events of The Last of Us: Part II, leading up to as many as three additional seasons to come. As for when Season 2 will premiere, fans can expect the show to debut at some point in 2025. The next major HBO release is House of the Dragon Season 2, which arrives this summer.

The Last of Us game series, meanwhile, seems like it will continue with The Last of Us: Part III.

"I've been thinking--is there a concept there [for The Last of Us 3]? For, now years, I haven't been able to find that concept," Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann said recently. "But recently that's changed. I don't have a story. But I do have that concept that is, to me, as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2," he said. "As its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story."