hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-last-of-us-showrunner-season-two-casting-abby-1235560553

a few quick numbers question. You originally were given 10 episodes for season one, then you rolled it back to 9. So does that mean season two is 9 or 10?

Neither. It means neither of those things. We've laid out our vision to HBO for how this series should lay out across not one season, but multiple seasons.

Four seasons? Like you suggested earlier?

I was aware that I mentioned that. You never know. It can end up being three or five. But four seems like a good number. Some seasons, because of the story we're telling, will need fewer episodes and some will need more. The best news is the audience wants more. We will not indulge a desire for more simply to make them happier when they hear how many episodes are announced. And if they don't like how many episodes are in a season because they want more, well, okay. But when all is said and done, I think the wisdom of how we lay it out will hopefully be clear. I don't know if any season will actually have the same amount of episodes. But, whatever, the number's not important. What's important is when they get to the end of the season, they're like, "That was a good season."

You've previously said Part II will be split into at least two seasons, which I assume is the case at this point.

What I can certainly confirm is that that story does not fit into one season.

Orsi teased a couple casting announcements coming soon in a recent interview. Have you found your major Last of Us Part II character Abby?

Maybe laughs.

You're turning red, so that's making me think, "Yes."

The strike stopped us in our tracks. Things were in process. Look, Abby was the first role that we wanted to tackle. We've got a pretty good track record of making major cast announcements and people going "really?" which will probably continue. So people may disagree, but I think we got it right so far and the audience seems to feel we got it right and the Academy seems to feel we got it right.

There are so many fans out there who are only familiar with the show and have such positive vibes toward it, and there are some story moves in The Last of Us: Part II game — without spoiling anything — that are really going to challenge that. Are you sort of like, giddily looking forward to the explosive reactions to come? Or are you kinda dreading the amount of backlash you’re likely to receive?

Neither, and I dispute the premise. I’m very studiously avoiding confirming anything even through a passive acceptance of a question. Anybody that has played the game and then watched the first season knows that sometimes we do exactly what happened to the game and sometimes we do something wildly different. We also don’t necessarily do things in the same order, or at the same time. In our first season, we repeatedly did things that were upsetting — everyone died except Joel and Ellie. People understood watching the show that this was a story where people aren’t safe. If you are planning on running a series for as long as it can, you put plot armor slang for characters who repeatedly and inexplicably avoid harm or misfortune on your main characters until such time the actors are asking for too much money or their Q score goes down or the ratings go down, and then you kill them. That’s not what we do or what HBO does. So anyone can die at any moment, as far as I’m concerned. As for backlash, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between emotion because they care and backlash. But neither I nor Neil make things with that in mind. There are also times during the season where we think they’re probably gonna be annoyed with us, but later they’ll get it. Like until you saw Ellie and Joel properly fuse, a lot of viewers were like, “Uh, she’s annoying.” And I’m like, “Yeah, exactly! She’s annoying and you don’t like her — just like Joel finds her annoying and doesn’t like her.” Until he does, and would now kill everyone for her, just like how you feel at the end, because that’s how good Bella is.

Brie Larson, aka Hollywood's worst actress?

That’s a hugeee stretch, she was great in Room

HBO loves reusing actors from other shows. Could be a hint

sorry, maybe worst actress to portray a superhero, because Captain Marvel is insufferable, my god

5 seasons

I blame all u niggas that d*** rode this show to oblivion

She has an Oscar, stop this

Whoever gets cast as Abby is gonna have to delete whatever social media presence they may or may not already have.

Let em cook

I’ve seen season 1
I’m not a fan of how they cook
Obviously I’m in the minority on this

Yup, we won

We won so hard

Just know this s*** will never reach the games quality no matter what y’all say

NEVER

It doesn’t need to reach the game’s quality imo

As long as Pedro and Bella keep killing it, and the supporting cast continues to be amazing…I’ll be very content with the show continuing

we love her

Backlash is definitely gonna be nasty

i won't

i don't

I mean, it'd make sense if Part 3 is just as lengthy as Part 2 was

hope we get 6