The Last Of Us Star Comes Out As Gender Fluid
Bella Ramsey from The Last of Us has revealed they are non-binary.
With the premiere of HBO’s The Last Of Us television series right around the corner, fans are fervently awaiting the arrival of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s performance. Bella Ramsey recently sat with The New York Times to discuss the show and revealed that they identify as non-binary gender fluid. In a statement reported by Deadline, Ramsey stated “I guess my gender has always been very fluid… Someone would call me ‘she’ or ‘her’ and I wouldn’t think about it, but I knew that if someone called me ‘he’ it was a bit exciting.”
The 19-year-old star was originally catapulted to fame in 2016 when they first portrayed Lyanna Mormont, the stern, take no prisoners leader of Bear Island in the hit HBO show Game Of Thrones. Ramsey’s portrayal of the adorable bundle of murder turned out to be one of the audience’s favorite redeeming qualities of the final several seasons of the show, as fans decried an overall drop in quality. Now, with The Last Of Us, Bella Ramsey plans to take her career to the next level, playing an incredibly well-fleshed-out character whose emotions and performance could make or break the show.
In The Last Of Us, which is adapted from the hit Playstation game of the same name, Bella Ramsey will star alongside The Mandalorian star and fellow Game Of Thrones alumni Pedro Pascal, as Ellie and Joel, respectively. The series will follow the pair as they make their way cross country in a post-apocalyptic hellscape complete with bloodthirsty fungal zombies and roving gangs of killers, to deliver Ellie to a team of scientists who believe they can engineer a vaccine. The game series has received critical acclaim for its writing, world-building, and gameplay, as well as its representation of both women and LGBTQ identities within its story.
In a way, Bella Ramsey’s gender fluidity unites them with their character, as Ellie took prominence in both installments of The Last Of Us series, as well as the DLC expansion, Left Behind, for her identity as a lesbian woman. The executives at HBO may not have been aware at the time of casting The Last Of Us series that Bella Ramsey was a member of the LGBTQ community, but it certainly speaks to their ability to align with the character. The storyline of the series is likely going to stick to the first game, where Ellie’s sexuality and gender identity remain largely unexplored due to her age, but these character details are an important part of Ellie’s back story that makes her who she is.
During their press rounds for The Last Of Us, Bella Ramsey explained that they select non-binary on government forms when the option is available, but don’t feel strongly one way or another about their pronouns. Ramsey added that they weren’t particularly fond of being gendered but are open and unbothered about whichever pronouns they choose to use. This is certainly a win for LGBTQ representation in media, as The Last Of Us promises to be a huge cultural movement if the massive game sales are any indication.
The Last Of Us is set to premiere on HBO on January 15th.
