The Last of Us star teases Marlene’s possible season 2 return
Merle Dandridge spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about the future of the hit HBO show.
This interview took place prior to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.
The first season of The Last of Us became an immediate sensation when it first aired on HBO earlier this year, with fans praising Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann's adaptation of the hit game.
While the series featured many voice actors from the games appearing in new roles, the only star to play the same across both mediums was Merle Dandridge, whose character Marlene was killed by Joel at the end of the season.
With a second season in the works, Dandridge spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about the series, in an interview completed ahead of the SAG strike, and teased that, despite her untimely demise, we could still see more of Marlene yet.
She said: "One of the great things about the way that Craig and Neil are going about this HBO adaptation is that everything is nonlinear and anything is possible.
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"So I would hold that towards that in the storytelling, in that Marlene’s role and how the action of the second game is elucidated in the game... we'll see how it turns out in the second season."
When asked whether she has spoken with Mazin and Druckmann about the second season or if she knew anything about it, Dandridge said: "Well, whatever it is, I know it’s going to be good."
There, of course, would be precedent for Marlene to pop back up in flashbacks in the show's second season, after the character appeared in a similar way in the second game, The Last of Us Part 2.
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Fans were shocked by the way that game took the story, and Dandridge revealed her own personal reaction to the events of the game, given that the second season is expected to follow them in some format.
She said of her initial reaction upon being told that story: "Oh my gosh. Astonishing is the only word that's coming to mind because it's like, 'Of course, every choice has a consequence. Every choice has a reaction on the other side of it, everything that you do put something else into motion, that you aren't just making these kinds of big choices and horrifying actions in a vacuum.'
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"So even though, in the first season, because of the way the story is told, we empathise with the decisions that [Joel] is making, even though he is violent, even though he is questionable in his morals, we empathise because we have seen the ‘why’, we carry with us and walk through this world with him with this why on his shoulder.
"It's like, 'Okay, you follow this and you buy into this, but understand there's a consequence to that kind of action.' And so I was overwhelmed by the second game’s story."
The Last of Us: The Complete First Season is available to purchase digitally now, from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Google Play, and more. 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD are also available now to purchase online and in-store at major retailers.
The full season is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW with an Entertainment Membership.
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