Naughty Dog, the game studio behind the highly controversial "The Last of Us Part II," is once again drawing significant attention with its upcoming original title, "Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet."
Tati Gabrielle, who stars as protagonist Jordan A. Mun in the new game, recently revealed in an interview that director Neil Druckmann not only personally trained her to immerse herself in the game's world but also specifically prepared her mentally to handle the kind of online hate incidents previously seen with "The Last of Us."
In a recent "Entertainment Weekly" interview, Tati Gabrielle discussed the pressure she's faced since taking on the role. As a Black woman appearing with a shaved head, she admitted to receiving a significant amount of discriminatory and misogynistic comments since the game's announcement.
Despite her efforts to stay off social media, when she learned of the negative feedback, Druckmann immediately reassured her, saying, "Don't pay attention to those comments; no matter what, we'll create something we can all be proud of together."
It's well-known that this isn't Naughty Dog's first encounter with such incidents. Back in 2020, following the release of "The Last of Us Part II," Laura Bailey, the voice actor for Abby, faced extreme online attacks and death threats due to her character's role in killing protagonist Joel. Druckmann stated that this time, he proactively put Gabrielle through a "boot camp" of sorts to prepare her for public scrutiny, hoping she wouldn't experience the same ordeal.
For Gabrielle, who is making her video game debut, this has been a fresh yet demanding challenge. She remarked, "I've never stepped into this realm before, so I couldn't anticipate what I might encounter. Because of that, I wanted to be fully prepared and avoid taking anything lightly."
▼Tati Gabrielle also plays Nora in the second season of HBO's live-action series "The Last of Us"
Set thousands of years in the future, "Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet" casts players as Jordan A. Mun, a bounty hunter who becomes stranded on Sempiria, a distant planet that has been cut off from external contact for centuries. There, Jordan A. Mun must use her wit and skills to escape the mysterious planet.
via： EW