“The Last of Us” Fans Bullied Bella Ramsey, but She Dealt With the Hate and Shared That She Is Gender Fluid
Bella Ramsey took Hollywood by storm at the age of 13 when she made her debut in Game of Thrones. In January, the long-awaited premiere of The Last of Us series, based on the eponymous video game was released on HBO. 19-year-old Bella got the lead role of Ellie in the post-apocalyptic drama. Not everyone was excited to see Ramsay in the role, but after the release of the first episodes, the fandom has no more complaints. We will tell you who Bella Ramsey is and why she leaves no one indifferent.
She’s been an actress since the age of 4.
Isabella May Ramsey was born on September 30th, 2003. She grew up in the UK, in an ordinary family with no family connections to the world of movies and theater. She first appeared on stage at the age of 4. When she was 8, Bella and her sister started performing at a comedy theater. The hobby turned into an actual job, when Ramsey got into the Television Workshop. Thanks to the Workshop, Bella got her role in Game of Thrones.
She kept her role in Game of Thrones in secret.
Bella got the role of Lyanna Mormont in the Game of Thrones series. Ramsey learned that she got the role the next day after school. The young star had to rehearse at the dinner table and keep this news a secret for the entire year before the season aired.
At the time, the actress was only 13 years old. In the original script, Lyanna was supposed to appear only in season 6, but Bella impressed the writers so much that her storyline was extended. Lyanna Mormont became one of the bravest and youngest character in the series.
She beat anorexia.
After Game of Thrones, Bella worked on some other big projects. She played a role in the comedy film Catherine Called Birdy and series The Worst Witch. When she was working on the latter, she developed an eating disorder. The actress claims it’s because she had to spend a lot of time outside home. Fortunately, she beat her anorexia by the time her role in the show was over. Ramsey says this experience had a big influence on her relationship with her body.
She’s fighting emetophobia.
The star openly talks about her eating disorders and other mental problems in interviews and on social media. Bella doesn’t hide the fact that she’s fighting emetophobia — the fear of vomit. “This could look like avoiding going out in the sun in case I got heatstroke, carrying rescue remedy pastilles with me everywhere in case I got anxious, not eating takeaways, the list goes on and on.”
During the filming of The Last of Us, she found out that she’s neurodivergent.
Ramsey was given the role of Ellie in the HBO series based on the legendary game The Last of Us. During filming, the actress learned that she is neurodivergent: “I’ve been thinking for years that maybe I was, and then to find that out whilst filming this show was super special.”
The brains of neurodivergent people work slightly differently. Neurodivergent types can include people with autism, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and more. It is unknown which of these applies to Ramsay. She did not give a more detailed definition of her condition.
She is gender fluid.
Bella uses she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably. The actress acknowledges the importance of labels, but she herself is not in a rush to assign herself to one: “I’ve had maybe a slightly unhealthy relationship with labels. The label of anorexia was like a comfort blanket for me. I held onto it too much. So, I’m wary of them, but I also think that I, in many ways, don’t have the guts to assign a label to myself.”
In a recent interview, the actress did identify as gender fluid. The star admitted that she chooses NB for the gender option when filling out any official forms. Overall, however, gender self-identification does not greatly concern her: “I’m very much just a person.”
She was bullied for her looks.
One of Bella’s recent big works is The Last of Us screen adaptation. She plays teenager Ellie, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world with people injected with fungus.
The choice of actress for this role wasn’t immediately accepted by the fans. Some of them even insulted her and complained she looked nothing like the Ellie from the game. In 2017, Bella tweeted, “Bullies aren’t strong! The bullied aren’t weak!”
It was Bella’s first time encountering such a wave of criticism and she could not ignore it. “It’s only recently that I’ve accepted I am Ellie, and I can do it, and I am a good actor. But this will last for a few weeks, and then I’ll think I’m terrible again. That’s just the process.” But after the release of the series, there were no doubts that this role was perfect for Bella. Even the voice actress who played Ellie in the game called Ramsey perfect for the role.
She’s never played The Last of Us.
Even though Bella was not involved in the original game The Last of Us, she has experience working in the gaming industry. In 2018, she voiced Freya in the video game Doctor Who Infinity: The Dalek Invasion of Time. Bella had not played The Last of Us before the casting, and when she was chosen for the role, the producers asked her not to refer to the original game during filming. Ramsey complied with the request and limited her knowledge of the story to YouTube videos.
She’s ready to play Ellie for as long as needed.
The Last of Us was recently released on HBO. The ratings of the show are so high that it has already been renewed for a second season. Bella believes that the story has great potential, and she is ready to play the role of Ellie for as long as they want. “They can do as many games as they like, as many series as they like, and I’ll be here, flying back out to Canada”.
In the meantime, she and the fans are waiting for a new episode every week, and she watches the new episodes alone in her bedroom with the lights off. For the actress, this is another chance to go back in time to the set and relive the story of Joel and Ellie.