HBO's The Last Of Us Series Has Added Another Familiar Face To Its Cast

It looks like HBO has cast another major character in "The Last of Us" television adaptation. The highly anticipated series is based on the award-winning video game franchise of the same name, developed by Naughty Dog. The first game was released in 2013 and extremely successful, selling over 17 million copies by 2018 (Polygon). A sequel game, "The Last of Us Part II" was released in 2020 to similar success and popularity. 

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic United States, after a strange fungus spreads throughout the human population, turning people into dangerous mutated creatures known as the Infected. 20 years after the outbreak, a hardened man named Joel (Troy Baker) is tasked with smuggling a teenage girl named Ellie (Ashley Johnson) through the quarantine zone to safety, as she might possess an immunity that could lead to a cure.

A movie adaptation has been rumored to be in development for years, with Maisie Williams — a popular fancast — reportedly once attached to play Ellie. Now in 2021, the adaptation is finally becoming a reality, but as a television series at HBO. Created by Neil Druckmann, a writer on the video game series, and Craig Mazin, an Emmy-winning writer and producer for "Chernobyl," "The Last of Us" TV show is quickly gaining traction, with Collider reporting that filming will start in Calgary in July 2021. 

With production fast approaching, HBO just announced the casting of another key character in Joel and Ellie's story. 

"The Last of Us" impressed video game fans when it cast Pedro Pascal of "Game of Thrones" and "The Mandalorian" as Joel, with fellow "Game of Thrones" alum Bella Ramsey playing Ellie. Alongside them are Gabriel Luna as Joel's young brother Tommy, and Merle Dandridge as Marlene, the leader of the militia group the Fireflies who sees Ellie as a surrogate daughter. Now thanks to Deadline, fans have a new casting to get excited about, as Nico Parker has officially joined the upcoming adaptation as Sarah, Joel's young daughter. 

For those who might not be able to immediately place the rising actress, Parker made her acting debut as Milly Farrier in 2019's live-action "Dumbo" film. Coincidentally, Parker also played a character named Ellie in 2020 in the HBO series "The Third Day." Another fact about Parker that some might not be aware of is that she is the daughter of Emmy-winning actress Thandiwe Newton and Ol Parker, a filmmaker who wrote and directed 2018's "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," among other successful films. Despite her strong Hollywood connections, Parker is making a name for herself as an extremely capable actress all on her own, and her exciting upcoming role in "The Last of Us" is likely just the start of a long and illustrious career.