Nico Parker onLast of UsCostar and 'Best Friend' Pedro Pascal: 'He Rules the World' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(Left to right:) Nico Parker in 2023, Pedro Pascal in 2024.Photo:Amanda Edwards/Getty;Dave Benett/Getty

Amanda Edwards/Getty;Dave Benett/Getty

Nico Parkerlights up when talking about her “wonderful”The Last of UscostarPedro Pascal.

“I always feel when I say this, people don’t believe me because he has so many best friends — but I really think he is one of my best friends,” jokes the British actress, 19, who played Sarah Miller, daughter to Pascal’s Joel, in the 2023 hit drama’s premiere episode.

After meeting Pascal, 48, during filming, Parker remembers the instant connection they formed.

“We got on so quickly,” she says. “He’s so lovable that anyone could get on with him anytime… he’s just the best.”

She adds that she and Pascal “speak all the time” these days. “I really feel like I needed him in my life at the time that he walked into it. We just kind of latched onto each other.”

(Left to right:) Lamar Johnson, Jeffrey Pierce, Storm Reid, Nico Parker, Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Merle Dandridge and Gabriel Luna at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Last of Us” in 2023.Amy Sussman/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

Amy Sussman/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

The Last of Uswas adapted from the hit video game of the same name. The HBO drama earned critical acclaim and a whopping 24 PrimetimeEmmy nominations,winningeight.

“Watching it, I was so happy that people felt like [our dynamic] translated on screen, because I do love him so much, and he’s so brilliant and so talented and so many people adore him — as they should," Parker says of her onscreen dad. “I just love him. There’s no one more charming and charismatic than him, no one.”

She adds with a laugh: “What a privilege that we get to be alive in a time where he rules the world!”

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in “The Last of Us”.Liane Hentscher/HBO

Parker, the daughter of actressThandiwe Newtonand director-producer Ol Parker, now leads a project of her own with 2024 Sundance Film Festival award winnerSuncoast(in theaters now and streaming on Hulu on Friday).

The film tells the story of a teenage girl whose brother is in a Florida hospice center — at the same time asTerri Schiavo’s final days. Writer-director Laura Chinn’s coming-of-age drama costarsLaura Linneyas her character’s mother andWoody Harrelsonas a protester who helps her grieve.

“She gets to be happy and she gets to be sad and she gets to be all kinds of different things,” Parker says ofSuncoast’s Doris, her first major leading role following Tim Burton’s live-actionDumboin 2019, the Newton-starringReminiscencein 2021 andThe Last of Us.

Laura Linney and Nico Parker in “Suncoast”.Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Parker will next star in another live-action reimagining of a classic:How to Train Your Dragon, scheduled for theatrical release in 2025.

“I literally can’t tell you anything,” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “What I can say is I’m having the best time. The cast, the crew, everyone is so immensely talented and lovely… I think people will be very pleased and excited when they get to finally see it.”

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Suncoastis in theaters now and premieres on Hulu on Friday.The Last of Uscan be streamed on Max.

source: people.com