With The Last of Us Season 2 preparing for its HBO premiere on April 13th, many Last of Us fans are waiting for how the series will interpret the events of the second Naughty Dog game. The pressure can be overwhelming, especially seeing how many took to the internet in response to the second installment’s storyline. The second season of the critically acclaimed series brings new cast members, including actress Isabela Merced who takes on the role of Dina. Merced’s work has been seen in a few other media adaptations lately, like Madame Web and Alien: Romulus, along with her DC superhero debut as Hawkgirl in James Gunn’s Superman. In our recent interview for Season 2, she admitted her most intense fan base interaction wasn’t from PlayStation gamers or Alien fanatics, but stems from her 2019 role in Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
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Merced had supporting roles in movies like Sicario: Day of the Soldado and Transformers: The Last Knight, but her first starring role was in the live-action Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures adventure film. Bringing Dora to live-action hadn’t been done before the movie, so there was a lot of pressure riding on this to succeed. While the movie didn’t make a splash at the box office, many praised Merced’s performance as the older version of the multilingual protagonist.
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During our interview with the actress alongside Jesse actor Young Mazino, ComicBook asked Merced about which following stands out to Merced as the most intense fan base to please. In response, she noted her fan base experience when taking on the role of the explorer:
“Dora. Dora had me in a chokehold. I was so scared. Maybe it’s because of my personal connection to her, but yeah, that one for sure.”
According to HOLA, Merced honored her role as Dora by learning Quechua, an indigenous language from Peru. Her connection to the role stems from being called Dora by her friends all the time, as well as representing the Latina community. Also, the film was catered to children and teens, which is a massive audience to please especially since Dora the Explorer is still ongoing on television.
Appealing to the fan bases as an actor is a tricky slope to ride, but Merced has been riding the waves for quite some time and has no plans on stopping. With her upcoming role as Dina in The Last of Us Season 2, the actress has teased her on-screen chemistry with Ellie actress Bella Ramsey, which fans will get to see in the coming weeks.
The Last of Us Season 2 premieres on HBO and MAX on April 13th.
