Nico Parker, who appeared in the first season of The Last of Us for “a good 30 minutes,” revealed why she couldn’t bring herself to watch Season 2 — not yet, at least.
Parker played Sarah, the teenage daughter of Pedro Pascal’s Joel Miller, in The Last of Us Season 1. Although brief, it seems the actress — who can currently be seen in theaters as Astrid Hofferson in the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon — still has a strong attachment with the series, particularly with her TV dad.
What did Nico Parker say about The Last of Us Season 2?
During her guest appearance in Late Night with Seth Meyers, the host asked Parker if she continued watching the show. He also jokingly pointed out that her character, Sarah, was one of the reasons one might say Pascal’s “character was such a bummer.” The actress then confessed that knowing she’ll witness Joel die on her screen was too much for her to handle just yet.
“I haven’t watched the second season because the idea of seeing him die is so deeply distressing,” said Parker. “But I’m a huge fan of Bella [Ramsey] and Kaitlyn Dever and Isabela [Merced] and Gabriel [Luna] and all of them, so I do want to watch it because I want to see them. But Pedro dying is just a lot.”
Parker later revealed that she did watch Gladiator II. “He dies in that and I was totally fine.” Meyers playfully responded, “At some point, you realize, you know, they’re just movies.”
Joel met his brutal demise after Abby (Dever) murdered him in the shocking and divisive second episode. Viewers have been expressing their disagreement over the creators’ decision to kill the character off too early in the show.
“Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind,” the logline for Season 2 reads.
The Last of Us Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on Max.
