'True Story': Alien: Romulus Director Reveals Strange Connection to The Last of Us

Filmmaker Fede Alvarez cast Isabela Merced's role in Alien: Romulus long before it was announced that she would be appearing in the second season of the HBO series The Last of Us. Even so, it was Merced's character in The Last of Us that influenced her big scene in Romulus.

In Alien: Romulus, Merced plays Kay, a character whose graphic birthing scene stands out as one of the wildest sequences of the franchise. Meanwhile, Merced will also be playing Dina, a character from the video game The Last of Us Part II, in Season 2 of the television series adaptation. In the game, Dina happens to be pregnant, a part of the story that influenced the screenplay for Romulus. As Alvarez explained in a post on X, Dina's pregnancy inspired him to similarly make the Kay character pregnant in the Alien film. Where it gets weird is by Alvarez sharing how this decision was made before Merced was cast in either role.

Alvarez said, "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."

Isabela Merced Has Called Her Alien: Romulus Scene Disgusting

Before the release of Romulus, Merced had warned filmgoers about her big scene. While she didn't spoil any specific details about her character or what may be happening in the scene, with no hints that it involved a birth, Merced said it was so "disgusting" that even the cast and crew had difficulties in watching the footage.

"There’s a scene that I’m in, and they all had to turn away. Not one person stayed looking at that iPad because it was so disgusting," she told THR.

Merced has also spoken out about how much she relates to the Dina character. She noted how in reality, she likes to serve as a "light" for others, making people happy at times when that's needed. Merced explained how Dina is the same way to the point where they'd probably even handle the apocalypse quite similarly.

"[Dina is] sort of a light in Ellie’s life, in Ellie’s world. I think that’s the general consensus, because you look at the video game, too, and she is really the only one who actually gets sort of a decent ending," Merced said, per Total Film. "I love, more than anything, to be that light for the people in my life. And I like to make them laugh, and I like to make them understand themselves more. I just like to help in general. I think Dina’s very close to my own personality. I think we’re both very silly, and I think I would maybe handle the apocalypse in a similar way if I were in it."

Alien: Romulus is now playing in movie theaters.