Nico Parker, who starred in 2019’s live-action Dumbo adaptation, is the latest actor to join HBO’s The Last of Us series. Parker will be joining the previously announced Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, and Merle Dandridge.
In addition to Dumbo, Parker previously appeared on the HBO series The Third Day, and will soon be seen in the Hugh Jackman sci-fi film Reminiscence. In The Last of Us, Parker will play Sarah, the daughter of Joel (Pascal) in the series.
If the HBO series sticks to the events of Naughty Dog’s original game, Parker will not be in the series for long, as Sarah plays a small, yet pivotal role in the event of the story. Joel’s daughter is key to the opening sequence of The Last of Us game, a tremendous introduction to this world and the crux of so much that comes after it. While writer and co-director of the original game Neil Druckmann has said that parts of The Last of Us series will “deviate greatly” from the game, it seems unlikely that the fate of Joel’s daughter will change in the show.
The Last of Us is created by Druckmann and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. The pilot episode will be directed by Kantemir Balagov, who also directed the haunting Beanpole. The series will also include directors Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?) and Ali Abbasi (Border). Filming for the series is set to take place in Calgary, Alberta starting next week, and will continue until June of 2022.
With The Last of Us series set to film for almost a year, the earliest we can likely expect to see the highly anticipated HBO series is late 2022, although no official release date has been announced yet.