Who Was The ‘Staring Girl’ On ‘The Last Of Us’? And Why Is She So Important?

[This post contains major spoilers for The Last of Us]

“Was that Dina?” That question has been trending on Twitter ever since Sunday’s episode of The Last of Us, “Kin.” It’s another Leo pointing moment for people who have played the video game, and total confusion for everyone who hasn’t.

Without getting into too many spoilers (but, fair warning, some are unavoidable), many people are convinced that Dina — who will play a major role in the show in season two — was the girl who Ellie snaps at while she’s eating. There’s a few reasons why. For one, actress Paolina van Kleef, who’s credited as “Staring Girl,” looks a lot like Dina. Also, in The Last of Us Part II, Dina and Ellie recount their first impressions of Jackson, the commune that was introduced in “Kin.” Dina was “so overwhelmed by all the people,” while Ellie was “overwhelmed by all the food. I remember my first week just gorging myself. Stuffing food in all my pockets like it was gonna run out.” Dina admits she saw her and remembers thinking, “Who’s this string bean girl stealing all the jerky?”

That’s not the only thing she noticed about Ellie: she also thought she was cute.

Ellie and Dina are in love, and much of The Last of Us Part II is about their relationship.

Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie, confirmed that season two of the show will stay true to the video game in a recent interview with GQ UK. “There are a few bits with Ellie on her own, probably, but I like the fact that she also has [Dina] now,” she said.

For what it’s worth, on The Last of Us companion podcast, co-showrunner Craig Mazin wouldn’t confirm that the staring girl was Dina (“It’s ambiguous. Someone’s staring at Ellie… I wonder who that could be), but he did tease that we’ll find out who she is “one day.” His fellow showrunner, Neil Druckmann, tweeted about the speculation.

I’m 98 percent sure it was. The fan cams are 100 percent certain.