4 days ago
Nepo baby Nico Parker reveals the lesson her famous parents taught her to get ahead as she follows in their footsteps - but insists it has NOTHING to do with their showbiz connections
Nepo baby Nico Parker has revealed the lesson her famous parents taught her to get ahead as she follows in their footsteps.
The actress, 20, is the daughter of BAFTA-winning film star Thandie Newton and director Ol Parker, known for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
She is fresh off the back of starring in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, as Chloe, the nanny to Bridget's children.
Nico also plays one of the leads, Astrid, in the live action remake of the 2010 fantasy adventure film How To Train Your Dragon, set for release on June 9.
And when appearing on Lorraine today to promote the new movie, she told presenter Ranvir Singh the advice her parents gave her as she flies the nest.
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When appearing on Lorraine today to promote the new movie, she told presenter Ranvir Singh the advice her parents gave her as she flies the nest
The actress, 20, is the daughter of BAFTA-winning film star Thandie Newton and director Ol Parker, known for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (all pictured together at the premiere for the 2019 live-action remake for Dumbo, which Nico starred in)
The host, 47, asked the young star on the ITV chat show: 'What's really lovely about you - I've seen you in other interviews - is you're just very open about the fact you came from an actor-y background.
'Your mum is Thandie Newton, your dad is a director. So, how has that informed the way you approach acting?
'And did you always think, 'Well, acting is just a no-brainer, of course I'm going to do it?"'
Nico replied: 'It wasn't really something, I did ballet for a while when I was younger and that to me was a kind of, full guns blazing, what I wanted to do when I was younger.
'So, acting didn't necessarily come about in a way of like, "This is my birthright", in any sense.
'But my parents, the really lovely thing about both of them is their advice is predominantly about how to be a good person rather than how to behave on a film set.
'And I think that what's lovely is about is that the two kind of bleed into one another because I think it's much more important to be a nice and normal person and be kind to others, rather than know what angle best suits you.
'So, the advice that I get from them feels very much more so about life and things like that.
'The wonderful thing about that is that you can then take it on to work and wherever you go.'
Ranvir then went on to ask how she was coping with fame, to which Nico responded, laughing: 'I don't feel famous at all!
'I feel very normal and all my friends are at uni and I go to visit them. Life feels surprisingly normal despite it being quite a mad time.'
Elsewhere in the interview, the star also confessed she hates to watch herself on-screen - literally turning away as the trailer for How To Train Your Dragon was shown on Lorraine.
Spotting this, Ranvir laughed: 'What's so funny is that you won't even watch yourself in the film!'
Nico, also known for her turns in the 2019 live action adaptation of Dumbo and post-apocalyptic drama series The Last Of Us, replied: 'As that was playing, I just was about to faint, I couldn't!
'Me and Mason [Thames, who plays lead character Hiccup] watched the movie recently in Brazil and that was my first full time seeing it, with an audience in a big cinema and I just couldn't, I was cowering away the whole time.'.
Asked why that is by the presenter, she explained: 'I don't know what it is...
Ranvir was impressed with the young actress's thoughtful answers, saying at the close of the interview: 'Well, I suppose we can credit your parents for doing a great job with you because I mean, it is wonderful to meet you'
'It just all feels very kind of silly in a way and then when you watch it with an audience, I kind of am just constantly thinking, "Oh, everyone hates me and this looks awful!"'
Ranvir responded sympathetically, 'Oh, darling!', before Nico continued: 'I'm always very, very in my head.'
But with a slightly smaller part in Bridget Jones than in How To Train Your Dragon, she said watching that was different.
Nico explained: 'I was just a tiny piece of a very big puzzle so I was able to actually watch it quite comfortably but you know, this was very different, very invasive in a way.'
Ranvir was impressed with the young actress's thoughtful answers, saying at the close of the interview: 'Well, I suppose we can credit your parents for doing a great job with you because I mean, it is wonderful to meet you.
'And in a way, [you're] sort of the opposite of what you expect in many ways because you're just so normal and so down-to-earth which is absolutely lovely to see.'
It comes after another guest on Lorraine this week caused a stir, with viewers seriously distracted by EastEnders star Shona McGarty's appearance.
Wednesday's episode of the ITV chat show saw the actress, 33 - best known as Whitney Dean on the BBC soap - discuss her latest gig with presenter Ranvir Singh.
After playing the character for 16 years, before her departure from Walford in 2024, she is now set to star in Bettie Page Queen of Pin-Ups: The Musical.
The new show will see Shona play the iconic American pin-up girl for one night only at London's Lyric Theatre on June 9.
But Lorraine viewers were more focussed on Shona's appearance - taking to X to say that with her fringe and bobbed hair, she looked uncannily like Lorraine Kelly.
One fan said, comparing Shona to the Scottish host, 65, of the self-titled chat show: 'Lorraine is looking a bit younger from her days off.'
Another user responded: 'Great minds.'
They also made their own separate post on the social media platform: 'Shona's morphed into Lorraine.'
Someone else said they agreed wholeheartedly: 'I couldn't think who she reminded me of but yes that's it!'
