Isabela Merced’s Dina Takes The Last of Us Into Uncharted Territory

It was hard to find something to look forward to after last week’s episode of The Last of Us. Joel was brutally murdered, his killers got away, and the one place that seemed safe in this post-apocalyptic hellscape was descended upon by a horde of snow-encrusted Infected. There is a glimmer of hope, however, in Isabela Merced’s Dina, who enters episode three with the keys to Ellie’s revenge: useful information and a plan, coupled with a flirty, playful spirit that suggests one can still feel butterflies for a crush amidst the carnage of a zombie apocalypse.

Dina’s usefulness, and her ability to bring all these things to the (literal) table, is only possible because of a key departure from the show’s source material in episode two, which swaps the patrol pairs from the game and places Dina with Joel when he’s killed. “I just wanted to make sure I was in that ride or die mentality.” says Merced about playing Dina during and after Joel’s death. “I didn’t want anyone to question Dina’s loyalty to Ellie.” As episode three picks up in the aftermath, this expansion of Dina’s role begins to quietly reshape the story, positioning the character as a crucial anchor for Ellie’s journey moving forward and hinting at more deviations to come.

You bring a lot of refreshing comedy to this character. How did you prepare to play Dina?
My first impression of Dina was from playing the game and watching some of the first season and picking up on the comedy that’s infused there. Playing the game gave me the most insight into her, without even knowing I was up for that specific role at the time. Once I knew I was going to play Dina, my approach was just to be nervous, and to pull as much as I could from Shannon Woodward’s performance. From there I had to learn to really trust myself and trust that Craig and Neil trusted me and felt like they were making the right decision. Dina is a very authentic portrayal for me.

So you started playing the game before you knew you’d be playing Dina. What was the process of getting the role?
I got a weird phone call, it was really mysterious, and they basically were like, Craig and Neil want to meet with you, and we think it’s for The Last of Us. We don’t know which character. So I watched the show, blindly thinking this would be for a more minor character. When we had the meeting it was very obvious that they were talking about Dina, even though they really couldn’t say much. I started playing the second game because of that.

How soon after that meeting did you find out you got the part?
It was a week after that meeting. They just went off our interactions. Mary Vernieu is the casting director who suggested me to Craig. I owe a lot of my success to her, because she got me in my first big, serious thing.

Were you instructed to play the character as closely to the game as possible, or were there elements you wanted to bring to the character that weren’t part of the source material?
After people were hired, they would sometimes ask, “Should I play the game? Do I do my research?” And Craig would be like, “No, no.” People would tell him they played the game and he’d go, “I wish you didn’t do that.” But everyone has their own process. Not everyone has to take the same classes and the same tests to get the same degree. It’s a lot more superfluous than that. I enjoyed having the opportunity to watch Shannon Woodward’s performance because I wasn’t really worried about doing a copy-paste version, and I had confidence as a performer to bring enough of myself to the table to give a refreshing take for audiences that might want something a little different. If they wanted Shannon’s performance, they could go back and watch the game. You know what I mean?

The show expands on Joel and Dina’s relationship, which is much less developed in the game. Did you and Pedro talk about establishing that relationship on screen? 
No, we didn’t really get a chance to build a relationship, but there was a lot of chemistry and that speaks to good writing and good casting. When I came to him, he was too busy to even prepare a lot. He literally came in from winning an award the day before — I forget which — and then we just started filming. I think he was memorizing his lines on the plane over. But for me, it all represents him being yet another surrogate father for a young woman and him constantly seeking that father-daughter connection that he lost in anyone around him. And since he lost that with Ellie again, but now this time due to his own actions, he’s seeking a more superficial, transactional version of that with Dina. And that’s why he tells Gail in the therapy session, Oh, Dina’s like my kid. It is really interesting to have that perspective looking back and now knowing that, in a way, Ellie replaces him, and Dina steps into where Ellie was in the first season.

Unlike the game, Dina ends up being there when Joel dies. How did you prepare for the significance of that, and what that shift would mean for Dina’s character? 
It gives her more incentive to go to Seattle, and it makes it more of a delicate situation. Dina is also a little bit more attached, and in this episode Dina is a huge reason Ellie is able to go. When I was preparing for it, I wanted to make sure I was in that ride-or-die mentality. I didn’t want anyone to question Dina’s loyalty to Ellie. I didn’t want anyone to see her waver, because it makes it all the more devastating in the end. I also think it’s really important to have Dina there because she thinks she has an understanding of the situation when she really doesn’t. It was really clever of the writers to have her be passed out. She’s present, but not really, but present enough that in the initial parts of the scene, she hears the names of the WLF members.

There’s also this rumor being spread around that I wasn’t actually there for the filming of that scene where Joel is unalived, and I wanted to dispel that here right now. People thought I went to Superman while they were filming this scene because it took a week to film; they thought I just left and they had a body double sit in for me. Obviously I was face down on the ground, but every time I wasn’t on camera and I didn’t need to be seen, I was watching playback, studying Mark and Craig, and then my body double would be there just for eye lines for people. But yeah, every time you see that beanie on camera, that was me. I don’t know why people start random rumors about that.

Dina being there for Joel’s death also means that the sex scene in the game, which takes place in the weed house, does not happen at the same point in the show. This really slows down the development of Dina and Ellie’s relationship. Did you and Bella talk about sitting in that “what are we” tension that’s such a big part of episode three? 
For us it was the delicateness. We were really worried about the balance between the grief and also the moments of joy and love, and how they’re all love being expressed in different ways. Sometimes when you feel too much joy after you’re grieving, it can feel like guilt. I think they both have a lot of trepidation when it comes to admitting to it, and it’s kind of like the last thing on their minds, but it’s also undeniably right in front of them. They have a really good excuse not to talk about it, which is that they’re here for a mission, for a reason. And that’s why in that first scene in episode three, Dina confronts Ellie with, This is the situation, this is what happened. I know their names and I have a plan. That was really important.

That scene is also the first time Dina and Ellie see each other after Ellie gets out of the hospital. Did you shoot that before or after shooting Joel’s death? 
We initially shot it all chronologically, but we ended up reshooting that scene because of the choreography. When we were initially filming episode three, Ellie was sitting in that same chair, but I was at the head of the table. HBO went in and was like, “There’s something off in this scene. Can we change something?” And Craig, being the genius that he is, was like, “I don’t think there’s anything we need to change really except for where we’re sat.” It changed everything. You see the cookies being slid across the table, it hits a little bit more visually. It wasn’t as compelling as us being on opposite sides of the table. It’s not really that complicated, but it added so much more.

Dina also reveals a little bit more in the initial version. In the reshoots, they wanted less information or for the information to be more vague, because there’s no way Dina would’ve processed all of that with frostbite and meeting all these new people and getting drugged and being under extreme stress.

So when did you end up re-shooting? 
At the end of the season. I was going to cut all my hair off after the season ended! But I waited a little bit, and thank God I did, because I would’ve just had a wig on during that day. That was also interesting, having gone through the whole journey already and then bringing us back. I think I had a patience and understanding of Ellie’s character after the fact, and it actually really helped with the scene the way we redid it.

In the scene at the table they’re being very mature and serious, but they become more playful again on the road, and the tension comes back in a bigger way when they’re in the tent. Was there ever a version of their time in the tent that was more intimate?
Yeah, we played around a lot with that. The most difficult part of that scene was the timing of turning the lamp on and off. That was a huge prop in the scene and added to its playfulness. But there was a version where Ellie was fully checking Dina out. You obviously want that fun playfulness and relatability, but I don’t think it’s as sexual as that. Their relationship is really, really tender and it’s really pure, and I think they were right to get rid of that and leave us wanting more. For that reason, I’m actually glad they got rid of the weed scene, even though I love it. It was one of my favorite scenes, it’s so hot. But I really appreciate the care being put into this, because a lot of times, sapphic relationships in media are overly sexualized. I appreciate them really making this more of an emotional connection and a real love story.

In their love story, what does Dina mean to Ellie? 
Dina will always be a life for Ellie. Dina will always be a channel for Ellie to access that joy and that feeling of whimsy and community, and also innocent recklessness. They bring out this really silly side in each other, and Ellie, being so haunted and plagued by her past, really needs that.

I read that you and Bella Ramsey didn’t do a chemistry read before you got the part of Dina. Did it take any time to settle into your characters when you were first on screen together?
Yeah, I mean, Bella and I barely got time to talk. We were doing arms training, horse-riding training, fight training, stunt training, hair and makeup tests, practical effects tests, fittings, hair and makeup. It was crazy. The first time we acted together was in the garage in episode one, but the first time we saw each other in character was during the camera test. You could just hear the room go quiet. You could feel us relax a little bit and realize this is right. It felt safe, and it was really cool to have that immediate comfortability because camera tests are usually so awkward.

I know you have other experiences working on horror and sci-fi projects, doing stunts, and adapting animated characters into live action. What was different or unexpected about shooting The Last of Us? 
What was most interesting was how much of it is practical effects. I thought a lot more would be VFX, but I really love that I’ve been able to work on several projects that are as practical as possible. Most of the VFX in this show are just for the background when they use the green screen, but really not a lot for the Infected. I actually got a really rare opportunity to join the VFX meetings. I asked Craig Mazin one night when I was tipsy on the plane back from work, and he said yes, and then actually followed through with it. So I got to watch the VFX process, and it’s so fascinating how they add everything. For example, the scene in episode two where they’re running into battle, they added a bunch of infected, but a lot of it is actual hordes of people running. I’ve never gotten to see it under such a close lens. Also, I love that the people who are playing the Infected are actually trained dancers. That’s why they’re able to move their bodies in such fascinating ways. I would watch them rehearsing and it looked like the “Thriller” music video.

Since you addressed some online rumors earlier, I have to ask if you’re keeping up with the fun stuff too. Do you go online when the episodes air to see the reactions and memes? 
Yeah, I love the funny stuff. Ariela Barer and I exchange Tiktoks that we find funny. There was one about the horse that gets left behind in episode two after Jesse comes to pick up Dina, and it’s just the horse in the blizzard, and there’s a sad song playing underneath. Or there was one edit, particularly with Jesse, Dina, and Ellie, and it was to the song “Jessie’s Girl.” That was one of my favorites.