‘Alien: Romulus’ Unlikely Connection to ‘The Last of Us’

Filmmaker Fede Alvarez cast Isabela Merced in ’Alien: Romulus’ well before it was announced that she would join the cast of HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2. Despite this, Merced’s role in ‘The Last of Us’ ended up influencing a significant scene in ‘Romulus’.

In ‘Alien: Romulus’, Merced plays Kay, a character known for a particularly intense and graphic birthing scene, one of the most striking moments in the franchise. In ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2, Merced will portray Dina, a character from the video game ‘The Last of Us Part II’, who is pregnant in the story. 

Interestingly, Alvarez revealed that Dina’s pregnancy in the game inspired him to make Kay pregnant in ‘Romulus’. He shared this insight on X, explaining that he was playing ‘The Last of Us Part II’ while writing ‘Alien: Romulus’ and decided to incorporate a similar pregnancy storyline for Kay. 

Image Courtesy: IMDb

Alvarez added that this decision was made before Merced was cast in either role, stating, “Fun fact: I was playing [The Last of Us Part II] while writing [Alien: Romulus]. The story of a pregnant Dina made me think of having the character of Kay be pregnant too. Then I cast Isabella Merced to play Kay…. A year later she gets cast to play Dina on the HBO show…. True story.”

Before ‘Romulus’ premiered, Merced hinted at the intense nature of her big scene without giving specifics, describing it as so “disgusting” that even the cast and crew struggled to watch the footage.

Image Courtesy: IMDb

Merced has also discussed how she relates to her character Dina. She sees Dina as a source of positivity in Ellie’s life and feels she shares this trait, enjoying bringing light and happiness to others. Merced noted that she and Dina are both “silly” and would likely handle an apocalypse in a similar way.

–Farheen Ali