Shannon Berry is the other name, and close to the opposite of Pugh. She’s known really only for her supporting role in The Wilds, a show that ran for two seasons on Amazon before it was cancelled. But fans soon latched onto her as a potential Abby given that she is quite literally a dead ringer for the character. She follows loads of TLOU show accounts, and Neil Druckmann follows her, which has been used as a point of evidence she has the job.
Pugh would be more of a Pedro Pascal pick, a high profile actor playing a major role in the series. Berry would be more of a Bella Ramsey pick, a lesser known TV actor who could potentially break out big in a series like this. And yet, what I’ve learned about insider rumors and fan casting is that…most of the time they don’t pan out at all. How many Fantastic Four cast rumors are we up to now? And we’ve already heard the showrunners say that people were surprised at who they cast for the first two major roles, and they may be similarly surprised with this one. So to me, that means no, they may not be one of the actresses that have been speculated about for the last 1-2 years, like these two.
I think either could do a fine job in the role. I had zero idea how Bella Ramsey would perform as Ellie, but she turned out to be perfect. Whether A-list or relative unknown, I’m sure the show would draw out a good performance in anyone, given how things have gone so far.