She’s a new character created for the show.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us episode 4.
After Bill and Frank’s emotional story in The Last of Us episode 3, we’re back to the action in episode 4 – and we’ve been introduced to some very important new characters.
One of them is Kathleen, played by Melanie Lynskey. She’s a new character for the HBO show and joins the fold along with her right-hand man, Perry (played by Jeffrey Pierce, who voiced Joel’s brother Tommy in the game).
Also introduced in episode 4 are Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard). Fans of the game will be familiar with them, but their story has changed a little here.
Episode 4 sees Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) continue their journey to Wyoming to meet up with Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna).
But danger is around every corner – and they end up getting themselves into quite the sticky situation, with the biggest cliffhanger of the series to date.
Who is Kathleen in The Last of Us?
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Kathleen is a new character introduced for the show. She wasn’t part of the game, unlike other characters.
She’s the leader of a violent revolutionary group in Kansas City and we meet her as she’s pointing a gun at her doctor (played by John Getz). She’s also on the hunt for a mysterious character named Henry (who we find out more about later in the episode) and will stop at nothing to ensure he’s killed.
During the episode, we see Kathleen’s brother die. We learn that the pair had a close relationship, and she then enlists Perry to help her find Henry.
She and Henry clearly have history, as she tells Perry: “He won’t let Sam starve.”
Neil Druckmann told Screenrant of Kathleen: “[An original character] that Craig came up with was the character of Kathleen, who was the leader of who in the game of these guys were the hunters, and they take a slightly different role here.
“Because I love the idea that there aren’t just good guys and bad guys. Everybody’s trying to survive, everybody’s trying to live life to the fullest way they can. But often, the goals are competing with each other, and that’s where the interesting things happen and the different philosophies of how to survive or do the ends justify the means, speak to what the story is really about in new ways than we did in the game.”
We’re set to learn more about Kathleen in episode 5.
Who is Kathleen actress Melanie Lynskey?
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Melanie Lynskey is an actress from New Zealand, perhaps best known for her roles in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Aunt Helen), Don’t Look Up (June Mindy) and Yellowjackets (Shauna).
Lynskey has starred in numerous films over the course of her career, too, starting out with the movie Heavenly Creatures in 1994, and going on to appear in But I’m a Cheerleader in 1999, and Coyote Ugly in 2000, as well as landing the role of Rose in Two and a Half Men.
Last year, she won the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in Yellowjackets.
Lynskey is married to actor Jason Ritter, and the pair share a daughter.
She’s clearly a huge fan of the series so far, and had fans delighted when she recently shut down a homophobic troll who accused the show of “homosexual agenda pushing” on social media.
She responded: “OMG yes let me push that homosexual agenda just by showing up! An honour!”
The Last of Us is exclusively available on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.
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