Nico Parker, The Last of Us Star, reacts to Toxic Reactions to Casting as Sarah

Nico Parker and the Last of us faced criticism for diversity.

The Last of Us's first season premiere was an instant hit, with so many people that HBO Max crashed. Additionally, the show debuted to nearly excellent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating a highly positive critical response.

Pedro Pascal and Nico Parker's performances as Joel Miller and his daughter Ellie in a terrifying episode have received a lot of attention for the casting.

However, there had been internet criticism of the show's diverse casting before the launch. Joel and Ellie are portrayed as white in the original computer game, and a loud minority has fought against changing the fictitious characters' ethnicity.

This is nothing new; whenever characters undergo "racebending" in adaptations, there are frequent complaints on social media. The Last of Us has received a great response, so the casting appears perfect.

When addressing the criticisms of her casting, Parker also spoke with Yahoo Entertainment. She can relate to fans who might be wary of their famous works being remade.

But several of these trolls make it clear that their criticisms go further than that, with some even suggesting that non-white actors shouldn't have even been considered for these parts.

These criticisms put off Parker since she believes broadening the cast's diversity would be beneficial. This is what she had to say,

“There are people for whom the game is incredibly important to them. But when it comes from a place where it's just a disdain toward any inclusivity, that's where I don't care. I don't value that opinion, and I don't agree.”

She added, “I hope they can look past it and still enjoy the show. But I think inclusivity is incredibly important. If young kids watch the show and feel they're represented through race, hair, or anything, that's ten times more important than anyone who doesn't like it because they don't like to see different people on their screen.”