‘The Last of Us’ star was pitched her character as Jesus’ sister

Warning: Spoilers for The Last of Us to follow.

Episode four of The Last of Us had us begging to be able to immediately hit play on the next one, as Joel and Ellie prepare to square off against a brand new and original adversary in Kathleen, played by Melanie Lynskey, who leads a pack of well-armed revolutionaries based in Kansas City.

It was the shortest episode yet, clocking in at 45 minutes, but it was all we needed to witness the gratifying growth of Joel and Ellie’s friendship, a hefty amount of action to boot, and Lynskey’s stone-cold opening minutes of screentime that she’s sure to build on next week with all the gusto of a wolf guarding its territory.

Tasked with portraying a character exclusive to the HBO Max series, Lynskey had her work cut out for her thanks to the absence of in-game reference material, but the cheeky caveat to that challenge is that showrunner Craig Mazin could make up the equivalent of reference material on the spot.

In an interview with Variety, Lynskey revealed that Kathleen was curiously described to her as “Jesus’ sister,” which no doubt opened up whole worlds of exploration for the actress, who eventually landed on a cruel, iron-fisted shell with which to bring Kathleen to life.

“He basically said, ‘Imagine if you were Jesus’ sister. Your brother was the greatest man, who was just so wonderful to everybody, who you loved and revered, and then he was brutally murdered. And you’re just this ordinary person who knows that they’re not that great of a person, who has to then step into this role and is sort of consumed with wanting to adventure.’”

We remain especially excited for next week’s episode, as the presence of a character like Kathleen promises a brand new set of events for Joel and Ellie to tackle; events that will no doubt serve as a curve-ball for franchise newcomers and veterans alike.

The Last of Us is currently available to stream on HBO Max, with new episodes releasing every Sunday until the season’s conclusion on March 12. A second season has been announced.