Her mother found the role through a job listing under a code name. Grace was immediately interested in the role due to Yara's "strength, bravery, and selflessness". After sending a tape, she was invited for a callback, where she met with Druckmann and acted alongside Bailey and Gross. Grace felt that, as the youngest of five siblings, her close bond with her family was carried across to the role: "I would take a hammer to the arm for any of my siblings". She appreciated that the writers allowed the characters to be defined by their personalities instead of just their Asian American background. Yara's casual clothing represents her transition to a carefree outlook, in contrast to her restrictive upbringing. Manny Emanuel "Manny" Alvarez (Alejandro Edda) is a former Firefly who serves with Abby, his friend, as a soldier of the Washington Liberation Front. When Abby beats Joel to death, Manny spits on Joel's corpse. He drives Abby and Mel towards the WLF base when they are attacked by Seraphites, forcing them to continue on foot. That night, he helps Abby sneak out from the base to find Owen. Two days later, Manny is sent to the marina to secure boats for the planned invasion of the Seraphites, but his crew is killed in a shootout with Tommy. He soon encounters Abby and the two work their way towards Tommy, but Tommy shoots Manny in the head, killing him instantly. Edda previously worked with Naughty Dog on Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). Naughty Dog's casting director, Becky Todd, contacted Edda while he was spending Christmas with his grandmother in Mexico, informing him that Druckmann wanted to speak with him; the two spoke on the phone, and Druckmann offered him the role of Manny. Edda, who has little other experience with video games, accepted as he found it to be a unique and creative experience. During production, Druckmann allowed Edda to be creative with his performance, adding small details to the character as he deemed appropriate; for example, Edda felt that Manny would drink mezcal instead of whiskey, as had been suggested in the script, and the line was changed. During Joel's death scene, Edda portrayed Manny as Abby's bodyguard, with a cold and tough disposition, though he acknowledged that the scene was emotional as it was his final shot with Baker. Edda felt that, with Manny, Abby was able to