The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey revealed that she considers herself genderfluid.
In an interview with The New York Times, Ramsey explained her thoughts on her gender. "I guess my gender has always been very fluid," the actor said. "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." Regarding pronouns, Ramsey claimed she doesn't worry about what people use for her but checks the nonbinary option on a form. "I'm very much just a person," she continued. "Being gendered isn't something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn't care less."
Ramsey received widespread acclaim for portraying Lyanna Mormont on the later seasons of Game of Thrones. After that show concluded, she earned the role of Ellie in HBO's The Last of Us, an adaptation of the immensely popular Naughty Dog video game. The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin has talked about how hard it was to find the perfect Ellie. "We're looking for a child, or somebody that can convincingly portray a child, who has this preternatural wisdom with this impossible combination of youth and experience," Mazin said. "Plus, she needs to be funny, tough, violent and protective of herself. She also needs to make us believe that she's going to have this connection with Joel, so it took longer." Before they decided on Ramsey, Mazin claimed they auditioned over 100 people for Ellie.
The Last of Us: From Game to TV
Leading up to the premiere of The Last of Us, Ramsey discussed how she reacted to fan toxicity over her casting as Ellie, admitting that she had never experienced that before. "There would be times I'd find it funny. Then I'd get to the end of a 10-minute scrolling session, put my phone down and realize: Maybe that was a bad idea," she said. However, Ramsey is hopeful that fans of the video game will also fall in love with the show. The actor explained that the show follows the emotional beats of the game and honors the legacy of The Last of Us. "But [the live-action series adaptation] brings a new life into it. It explores different avenues that weren't explored so much in the game. I do think people are going to love it. I hope they do."
While Ramsey understands that fans of the game will naturally be worried about its adaptation, reviews for the show have nothing but excellent things to say about it. Several reviews for The Last of Us have called it the best video game adaptation ever and stressed that the show succeeds where other adaptations fail.
The Last of Us airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
CBR would like to apologize for the initial misspelling of Bella Ramsey's name in this article. The error has been corrected.
Source: The New York Times