Bella Ramsey on growing up on screen, before and after fame
Actor Bella Ramsey, 22, known for roles in Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, discusses starting a career as a child, buying their first flat, and upcoming projects. Ramsey also opens up about a recent neurodivergence diagnosis and their ambivalence about calling acting a 'career'.
Bella Ramsey, a non-binary actor who uses they/them pronouns, has worked professionally since age 11, when cast in Game of Thrones. Now 22, Ramsey gained international recognition playing Ellie in HBO's dystopian drama The Last of Us alongside Pedro Pascal, a role that earned multiple award nominations, including two Emmy and two Golden Globe nods.
Ramsey says a decade of work allowed them to buy their first flat in London, though they feel somewhat guilty about it, believing such purchases usually come later in life. Living alone, they say, matters to them because they otherwise tend to adapt too much to the people around them at work.
A childhood spent on set
Ramsey grew up in a rural part of England's East Midlands and joined the Television Workshop in Nottingham at 11, without initially intending to pursue acting as a career. They recall that filming The Worst Witch at age 11 meant weeks living alone in a hotel room without a parent present, which they describe as a difficult period.
While filming the first season of The Last of Us, Ramsey received a formal neurodivergence diagnosis, which they say helps explain feeling, since childhood, both "too old and too young" among peers.
New projects
In the recent film Sunny Dancer, Ramsey plays a teenage cancer survivor who attends a summer camp with other young cancer patients and survivors. They describe the experience as freeing, since it was the first time since childhood they filmed alongside a group of peers. Ramsey also discusses their role in the new Channel 4 thriller Maya, playing a teenager placed in witness protection. Beyond acting, Ramsey is currently writing a TV series and making music with friends, and will travel to Vancouver later this summer to film the third season of The Last of Us.
