Laura Bailey, Abby of The Last of Us: Part 2, evaluated her post-launch experience in the documentary Grounded II.
Getting a job at Naughty Dog can’t be easy, neither for the actors nor for the developers. During the development of The Last of Us: Part 2, many experienced a crisis. Many of you may remember the title being leaked months before its release, forcing the studio to delay the game indefinitely. However, it was the actress who played Abby who received a huge, toxic wave of harassment for just doing her job.
In the documentary Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, Laura Bailey talks about her experience and the hell she went through after the game was released.
The Abby actress said the threats went too far. Some of them were aimed directly at her baby: “They were threatening my son who was born during all of it and yeah, it was rough. But, you know, more than anything it just kind of like taught me to keep a distance,” – says about one of the lessons.
“Every moment I’ve been in it, it’s just been death threats,” she says. Moreover, the actress mentions that the latter was the worst. “The worst of it, the really hardcore death threats got past alone and they made sure they weren’t anyone who lived close by,” she explains. The police had to step in to make sure none of them were anywhere near where Laura Bailey lived.
Abby-hating, The Last of Us: Part 2 leak and Naughty Dog’s worst moment
Neil Druckmann also reports that The Last of Us 2 leaks almost brought him to his knees. “That was the moment I had the biggest breakdown of my life. I’m working on a game, about to finish, at home, alone, feeling very lonely… and I asked myself: ‘Who am I doing this for?’ And I almost didn’t know get over it,” he says.
Right after that came the good news: “Then we were able to finish (the game). We sent it to the media, and the reviews were skyrocketing. I called Troy and said, ‘I’m sorry, man. I feel like I let you down.’ That he said to me, ‘What do you mean? Man, I don’t care (what they say on social media). I’ve played the game, and I love it!’ It almost brought tears to my eyes. I realized how much I care that Troy likes it” – closes the conversation.
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