Authenticity in representation was a key factor in bringing Lev to life.
, you see his arrow pierce the cheek of a man who’s about to strike Lev's sister Yara with a hammer. There is nothing subtle about Lev’s introduction. He is swift and calculated, flitting between the trees in the dark like a spirit, or maybe even a small wild animal, to stay hidden and save his sister from a religious cult they’ve so desperately tried to escape from.
Lev is on the run from the Seraphites, an authoritarian religious cult whose members adhere to strict predetermined roles. He has defied his assigned role as a Seraphite elder’s wife, and shaved his head, a decision reserved for males. By reclaiming his identity this way, he puts himself and his family at risk.
To fill the role, Naughty Dog reached out to several talent agencies in search of a young transgender actor, as well as organizations such as, where he saw a young actor named Ian Alexander in the role of Buck Vu, a trans teen. “I was 13 years old when I told my parents I was attracted to women. I was 14 when I said, ‘I’m trans. I’m not the gender I was born as. I’m not your daughter. I hope that you can accept me that way,’” continues Alexander. “They didn’t take it very well, and that was something that really shaped who I am to this day.”
In Lev’s story, Alexander saw many parallels to his own life: his religious upbringing, the rejection he suffered from his parents, how he shaved his head as an act of rebellion. Druckmann asked him to record an audition tape with some early scenes from the game. He was also inspired by Laura Bailey, who plays Abby, and their hours-long studio sessions together. Druckmann and Halley Gross, cowriter and narrative lead on the game, were quickly impressed with Alexander’s performance and the way he and Bailey acted against each other. They mined the two characters for more material and wound up extending their journey in the game beyond what had been originally envisioned.
“I completely understand a lot of people’s frustrations,” says Alexander. “Obviously, the writers have the best intentions and wanted to bring authentic representation, and they might have missed the mark a little bit with that.”