Isabela Merced & Young Mazino Join 'The Last of Us' Season 2 as Dina and Jesse

by Darian Scalamoni

    Coming off our report from yesterday that Kaitlyn Dever is joining Season 2 of The Last of Us, we have two more casting additions as well. According to multiple outlets Young Mazino (Beef) and Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight) will also join the cast for the sophomore installment of the video game drama from HBO.

    Mazino's casting was announced first on Wednesday, as the breakout star of Netflix drama, Beef, a newly awarded Golden Globe winner for Best Limited Series of 2023. Mizuno will be playing Jesse, who is described as "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost." Mazino recently was nominated for an Emmy Award for his supporting turn as Paul Cho, Steven Yeun's character's brother on the series. He's next set to appear in the feature film, Opus which also stars Ayo Edebiri, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder and John Malkovich. 

    Merced is currently in the hottest part of her career, recently being courted and cast for everything under the sun. In recent years, Merced has led projects such as Instant Family, Sweet Girl and Dora and the Lost City, but now, she's taking a much more mature approach to her roles as she is now in her 20's. Next, Merced will join Sony's comic book universe as she'll star in Madame Web opposite Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O'Connor which hits theaters in February. She also has indie film Turtles All the Way Down in the can, and also just wrapped filming on Alien: Romulus, the latest in the horror franchise from Ridley Scott.

    Additionally, Merced has been cast in the DCU as James Gunn's pick for Hawkgirl. She'll make her debut as the character in 2025's Superman: Legacy. She'll follow up her filming obligations for The Last of Us, before heading into production on the actioner Ballerina Overdrive with Lena Headey, Lana Condor and Yara Shahidi. Merced's role in the second season of the HBO show, will be as Dina, the last of the three major additions they were casting for this season. Her role was announced on Thursday, as Dina is Ellie's new romantic interest and also, is Jesse's ex. She's described as a "free-wheeling spirit whose devotion to Ellie will be tested by the brutality of the world they inhabit."

    Production on Season 2 of The Last of Us is set to begin in February. What do you guys think of these castings?