Fede Álvarez Reveals Isabela Merced’s ‘The Last of Us’ Character Inspired Her ‘Alien: Romulus’ Role

This article contains spoilers for Alien: Romulus.

Audiences who loved Isabela Merced‘s performance in Alien: Romulus might feel a sense of déjà vu while watching Season 2 of HBO‘s The Last of Us, coming in 2025.

In a wild case of onscreen serendipity, Romulus director Fede Álvarez revealed that Merced’s pregnant character Kay in his Alien sequel was inspired by the Last of Us video game character Dina, whom the actress is also set to portray.

“Fun fact: I was playing #TheLastOfUs2 while writing #AlienRomulus,” he shared Friday on X. “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.”

The director’s latest behind-the-scenes secret comes after he was temporarily banned from an Alien subreddit for “impersonating” himself in a spoiler-heavy reveal about the characters Kay and her cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn).

“Right before Bjorn’s death, he and Kay share a moment where they touch each other in a very intimate way. Am I the only one who thought this was a sign that Bjorn is the ‘jerk’ who got her pregnant?” the redditor asked, to which Álvarez replied, “Yes he is. Good catch!”

The seventh installment in the franchise — set between the events of the first two films, Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) — follows a group of young space colonizers as they scavenge a derelict space station, coming face-to-face with a xenomorph.

Co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues, Alien: Romulus also stars Caliee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux and Aileen Wu. The movie opened to $108.2 million globally, the second-best opening for the franchise and a career best for both Álvarez and Spaeny.

In a promo spot for Max‘s 2024-’25 season released earlier this month, a first-look at Season 2 of The Last of Us teased Merced’s portrayal of Dina, who serves as the partner, co-conspirator and eventual love interest of Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey) in the video game.