‘The Last of Us’ showrunners’ justification on including Kathleen, and casting Melanie Lynskey

The Last of Us showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have explained their rationale for the character Kathleen and how they cast the role.

On The Last of Us Podcast, the duo spoke to Troy Baker about the creative latitude that came with live-action storytelling. Druckmann explained how television allowed the narrative to be told from different perspectives to add nuance to adversarial figures and elevate the story. 

The show affords us the ability to leave Joel and Ellie and flesh out other characters in different ways. The best thing I think you can do in The Last of Us is flesh out your antagonist to show that there’s a motivation behind what they are doing. They don’t see themselves as villains or the bad guys. We are just at odds with each other because our goals somehow overlap what we want which are different things.

As tensions rise between Joel, Ellie, and the resistance, Druckmann believed it was essential to humanize the opposition. They accomplished this by including the character Kathleen (Melanie Lynskey). He said:

“They don’t see themselves as villains or the bad guys. We are just at odds with each other because our goals somehow overlap what we want which are different things.”

Druckmann pointed out the importance of trust in the struggle for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. He talked about how such conditions would likely affect the group dynamics among the survivors. He said their way of life would emphasize familial and filial bonds, with a low tolerance for any perceived threat to the group’s cohesion and safety.

Because Joel once counted himself among the resistance, he understands their mentality. However, he also sees through their deception. Druckmann says that one of his favorite lines from the game is when Ellie asks Joel about the resistance’s deception:

“It’s when she says, ‘How did you know about that?’ and he says, ‘I’ve been on both sides.'”

Mazin compares Kathleen to Madame Defarge in A Tale Of Two Cities, whose pursuit of a just cause makes her amoral, while her suffering makes her an object of pity. The showrunners agreed that the role of Kathleen fit Melanie Lynskey like a glove, with Druckmann adding: “It feels like the role was created for her.”

The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO Max.