Summary
- Nico Parker, daughter of Ol Parker and Thandiwe Newton, is making a name for herself as an actress in big-budget movies and TV shows.
- Parker's feature film debut was in the live-action remake of Dumbo, where she played a new character, Milly Farrier, who forms a special bond with the flying elephant.
- Parker is best known for her role as Sarah Miller in the TV series The Last of Us, where she portrays the late daughter of Joel, setting the eerie tone for the post-apocalyptic world. Her skills as an actor continue to improve with each role she takes on.
Nico Parker may be better known for her famous parents, but she has started to appear in multiple big-budget movies and tv shows, building a name for herself as an actress. Parker is the daughter of director and screenwriter Ol Parker, and actor Thandiwe Newton, and her acting skills already prove she has inherited some of her parents’ Hollywood talents. Ol Parker is the director of such films as Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Ticket to Paradise, and more. He’s written for even more movies including The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and A Boy Called Christmas.
Newton’s most notable film roles include Christine Thayer in Crash, Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Emily "Watts" Sanders in Reminiscence where she shared the screen with her daughter. However, Newton’s most recognizable role comes in Westworld where she plays the independent and powerful host, Maeve Millay. It’s a role that earned Newton an Emmy win and two more nominations as well as two Golden Globe nominations. As impressive as the catalog of Nico Parker movies and TV shows has already proven itself to be, the young actor still has a long career ahead of her if she hopes to reach the heights of her parents.
Nico Parker's Feature Film Debut Was In The Live-Action Remake Of Dumbo (2019)
Nico Parker first came to public attention in the live-action remake of Dumbo. Parker plays a character new to the story, Milly Farrier, the daughter of the lead elephant trainer, Holt (Colin Farrell). Milly is a precocious and empathetic young girl who is more interested in educating about the animals at the circus than making them perform. In a change from the animated film, it’s Milly, rather than the controversial crows from the 1941 Dumbo, who ends up discovering that the elephant flies more confidently when he’s given a feather.
This is not the only one of Nico Parker's movies and TV shows that utilize CGI creatures and VFX, though. Dumbo showed a clear knack for interacting with something that isn’t actually on screen. This talent went on to help Parker in the CGI-heavy sci-fi thriller Reminiscence (2021) where she appears briefly as Zoe, alongside her mother, who plays Watts. She will also be appearing in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon in 2025, as Astrid, where once again she will be interacting with CGI creatures in the form of the dragons.
Nico Parker Is Best Known For Playing Sarah Miller In The Last Of Us
While Nico Parker got her start with Dumbo, she is better known for her role in the tv series The Last Of Us (2023), where she plays Sarah Miller, Joel’s late daughter who died in the early stages of the outbreak. It’s a small but key role, not only for how Sarah’s death affects Joel in The Last of Us but because it’s Sarah’s walk through Austin that is the unnerving setup to the series. The eerily calm tone of the show is first shown here, and it's through Sarah’s eyes that the audience begins to understand what the viral outbreak is going to end up doing to the world.
The Last of Us is only Parker’s second TV series, while her first was her role in The Third Day (2020), playing the character of Ellie. The Nico Parker movies and TV shows list continues to grow, and it's her role in The Last of Us that really proved how far she’s already come as an actor. That part requires the camera to be held on her for long stretches of time and for her to give almost imperceptible signs that she’s sensing something is wrong. Every role Nico Parker takes improves upon the solid foundation of skills she gained from her parents.