Bella Ramsey exploded onto the screen with her standout performance as Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones, and has since impressed audiences with her work in projects like last year’s Catherine Called Birdy. Now she’s about to rise to a new level of stardom as she stars in the already highly reviewed adaptation of The Last of Us. While promoting her new series that also stars Pedro Pascal, she was asked about her gender identity, and she opened up about identifying as non-binary and how she feels about sometimes being mistaken for a boy.
In a profile by The New York Times, Ramsey recalls a story about receiving a nomination for best young actor/actress for her performance in Catherine Called Birdy, which is one of the best underrated movies of 2022. The actor noted that the nomination was nice to receive, and the fact that the category wasn’t gender-specific was “pleasing.” Ramsey also said as a child people would mistake her for a boy, and she “loved” it. The actor continued talking about her gender identity, saying:
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.
Ramsey continued, noting that if she was asked to identify her gender on a form, and nonbinary was an option, she would check that box. However, when it comes to her pronouns, she said:
I’m very much just a person. Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.
Along with Ramsey, Emma D’Arcy and Emma Corrin are two other actors who have been recognized for their roles in critically acclaimed projects. D’Arcy recently opened up about their Golden Globe nomination for their performance in House of the Dragon, saying they received the recognition for their work after they “stopped pretending” and embraced their non-binary identity. They also spoke about how they hope their work helps open the door and create more space for trans and gender-nonconforming folks.
Along with Ramsey, Emma D’Arcy and Emma Corrin are two other actors who have been acclaimed for their roles in critically acclaimed projects. D’Arcy recently opened up about their Golden Globe nomination, saying they received the recognition for their work after they “stopped pretending” and embraced their non-binary identity. They also spoke about their work helping open the door and create more space for trans and gender nonconforming folks.
Ramsey is also becoming quite the star, and has been acclaimed for her work. Plus. with her latest role leading The Last of Us cast, her popularity is bound to rise, hopefully bringing more attention to all the extremely talented nonbinary actors working right now.
At only 19 years old, Bella Ramsey has been consistently working since 2016, and blowing audiences away with her confident and memorable characters. Game of Thrones was her first role, and she said she loved playing the confident Lyanna because it helped her find her own confidence. From there she went on to act in Judy, His Dark Materials, Becoming Elizabeth and did some voice acting in shows like Hilda and Summer Camp Island among many other projects.
It’s clear the young actor has a bright future ahead too, with The Last of Us slated on the 2023 TV schedule and two other projects in development.
If you want to watch this brilliant young nonbinary actor at work, you can watch the first episode of The Last of Us on Sunday, January 15 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, you can also stream the series as well as Game of Thrones with an HBO Max subscription.
