On a chilly December afternoon, Nico Parker comes bounding into Milk Beach, an Australian eatery down an industrial alleyway in North West London. Shrugging off her coat to reveal her “Reading Is Sexy” T-shirt, she eagerly tells me about growing up here near the cozy cafés, curls bouncing as she explains that every row of houses in her close-knit neighborhood has its own group chat. “I mean, I’m not on it, which I’m deeply offended by,” she jokes. “There’s a very strong sense of community.”

Parker is a typical Gen-Z 18-year-old: She’s obsessed with Phoebe Bridgers (the singer-songwriter’s sad-girl anthems were a fixture on her 2022 Spotify Wrapped), she can’t wait to finally get a real ID (“Not that I’ve ever had a fake one”), and she looks to her astrological chart for guidance (musician Lucy Dacus once told her she has “the most interesting big three” signs). “I’m so aware of how young 18 is,” Parker says. “But I’m also horrified because I feel like that means you’re an adult.”

Along with adulthood comes more grown-up work. While most would recognize her from her feature debut in Tim Burton’s 2019 live-action remake of Dumbo, this year Parker plays an integral role in The Last of Us, HBO’s adaptation of the generation-defining blockbuster video game.

Zombies have long dominated the pop-culture space, but The Last of Us — a story that examines the wounds of grief that are left unhealed thanks to…