‘Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’ Lead Says Naughty Dog Head Neil Druckmann Has Been “Bootcamp-ing” Her About ‘The Last Of Us Part II’ Backlash
According to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet lead Tati Gabrielle, part of her pre-production work on the upcoming Naughty Dog title has involved a history lesson from studio head Neil Druckmann regarding the backlash faced by The Last of Us Part II and its respective cast, as given in order to help her weather the more extreme of her future critics.
Gabrielle, whose thus far history with the PlayStation subsidiary has included appearances as Braddock in the 2022 Uncharted movie and Nora in HBO’s The Last of Us series, spoke to the details of her first video game role during a recent interview given to Entertainment Weekly‘s Nick Romano.
Set against the backdrop of deep space, Intergalactic stars Gabrielle as Jordan, a bounty hunter who after crash landing on the planet Sempirar while tracking a target must fight to both survive amidst its robotic inhabitants and become the first person in history to ever successfully make their way off-planet.
Reflecting on her approach to portraying Jordan, especially given how much of a departure it is from her usual roles in both medium and setting, the actress recalled, “Neil’s been bootcamp-ing me”.
However, more than just the game’s lore or narrative, Gabrielle explained that Druckmann had instead been talking to her about the outrage leveled towards The Last of Us Part II over its creative choices.
“I know Troy [Baker]’s experience,” she said. “I know Ashley [Johnson]’s experience…I know Laura Bailey’s experience.”
Reflecting on the backlash leveled towards both her and Jordan’s character following Intergalactic‘s reveal, Gabrielle explained, “I got a lot of love, but there was a lot of hate over me being a woman, me being a woman of color, me having my head shaved, all these things that I didn’t even actually initially see — I’m out of the social media zeitgeist for that reason.”
“But once I did,” she continued, “Neil was like, ‘Ignore it. No matter what, me and you, we’re going to make something beautiful. We’re going to make something that we’re proud of.'”
(It should be noted that while Gabrielle did indeed receive her fair share of intellectually dishonest attacks, she also exacerbated the situation by mocking her critics by responding with a piece of fan art showing both Jordan and The Witcher 4 lead Ciri drinking “Incel Tears“.)
Her time with Romano drawing to a close, Gabrielle ultimately admitted to her inexperience with the medium and asserted, “This is a world — video games — that I’ve never stepped into before. So I don’t want to put one thing in my mind of expecting it’s going to be this way and then it’s not, and then I’m unprepared or take it too lightly.”
At current, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has yet to receive an official release date.
Though the game is presently listed as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, given Sony’s turn in recent years to releasing their titles on PC, it’s likely that it will be given the same treatment somewhere down the line.
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