HBO premiered its adaption of the 2013 video game The Last of Us last night, which saw characters in the game brought to life, like Sarah Miller, played by Nico Parker. The Dumbo star and daughter of Westworld‘s Thandiwe Newton talked to Yahoo Entertainment about her limited role. (Spoilers ahead)
Like the game, the beginning of the show follows the character as the zombie outbreak unleashes. Her father, Joel (Pedro Pascal), and her uncle, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), try to make an escape as chaos engulfs Austin, Texas. As they split off with Joel carrying his daughter after their car crashes, they are confronted by a soldier. The man is given orders through the radio to shoot, resulting in the death of the teenager.
Nico Parker recognized she had a small but pivotal role in The Last of Us as Sarah. She did not “treat every moment like it was the most important” but found the importance in the bigger moments. Some of those bigger moments from her time in the first half of the premiere include her birthday present to her father and her gut-wrenching death. Ultimately, her focus was on letting viewers live with the character without building up the death to take over the smaller moment-to-moment scenes before the fungal zombies start devouring her neighbors.
“You’re seeing a way more regular version of life, and I didn’t want you to feel, ‘Just wait ’til you see what happens!’ I wanted it to feel day-to-day. And then when it got to the more emotional, stressful scenes, I wanted it to feel like everything you’re seeing you’re seeing for the first time.”
Nico Parker on starring in The Last of Us as Sarah
The cast and crew were instructed not to consume anything regarding the game to keep things separated. As many were fans, some had no experience of the Naughty Dog classic. Like Bella Ramsey (Ellie), Nico Parker eventually got around to seeing The Last of Us through YouTube videos as she is not much of a gamer. Like gamers who were struck by the iconic death at the beginning of the game, she did “consistently cry,” with the scenes involving her character.
The Last of Us series has sold 37 million copies. That includes the PS3 game, its PS4 remaster, its remake, and the sequel. It is currently available on PS4 and PS5, and PS3 if you still have one lying around your home.