“The Last Of Us” Star Bella Ramsey Just Shared Their Fear That People Would Think They Only Came Out As Nonbinary To Be “Trendy”
Bella said that they had “a lot of anxiety around pronouns” before coming out as nonbinary, and credited their costar Pedro Pascal as a source of support.
Since then, they have enjoyed a glittering career and returned to HBO’s prestigious Sunday night slot earlier this year when The Last of Us premiered.
In arguably their biggest role to date, Bella plays Ellie in the postapocalyptic drama, which is based on a video game of the same name.
While doing publicity for the show in January, Bella came out as genderfluid in an interview with the New York Times.
“I guess my gender has always been very fluid," Bella explained at the time. "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 article went on to note that while Bella doesn’t mind if people use she/her pronouns, they said that they’ll tick “nonbinary” if they see it as an option on a form.
Bella added, “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.”
Now, in a new interview with Vogue, Bella has confirmed that they/them pronouns are “the most truthful thing” for them as they admitted that they’d previously been concerned that people would think they only said they’re nonbinary to be “trendy.”
“I’ve fought that word for so long,” they explained. “I didn’t want people to think I was just trying to be trendy. But it’s a very succinct way to describe to people who I am.”
“I had a lot of anxiety around pronouns,” Bella went on. “When The Last of Us first came out, I was like, Everyone just call me ‘she’ because I look like a ‘she’ to you, so it’s fine. But now I’m able to vocalize it more, being called ‘they’ is the most truthful thing for me. That’s who I am the most.”
The star went on to detail the subtle way that The Last of Us’s wardrobe department supported their gender identity during filming.
“The costume supervisor would put several different undergarments in my room: a regular bra, a binder, a sports bra,” Bella shared. “She’d say, ‘You just pick whatever is most comfortable for you today,’ and in the end it was just a binder. There was never anyone pressuring me.”
Bella also credited their costar Pedro Pascal as a source of support on set. They said, “I always felt like he had my back; we take care of each other.”
The new interview comes one month after Bella revealed that they’d considered withdrawing from the Emmys because of the gendered award categories.
They said that fitting into either lead actor race was “uncomfortable,” but they ultimately decided to contend in the female categories, even though they don’t identify as a woman.
"The categories at the moment feel extremely gendered with the language around them," Bella told Vanity Fair. "I don’t want the limitations in terms of the language in the categories to be a reason that nonbinary actors like me can’t be celebrated.”
They went on to acknowledge that finding “alternatives” to gendered categories isn’t as clear-cut as it may seem, with the BRIT Awards in the UK facing backlash earlier this year when five men were nominated in the nongendered Artist of the Year category.
Not a single woman or nonbinary person was put forward for the award, which was won by Harry Styles. During his acceptance speech, Harry acknowledged the controversy as he name-checked all of the women artists who’d been snubbed despite being eligible for the nomination, and dedicated his win to them.
#BRITs Second win for #HarryStyles Best Artist. A thank you for his Mum family and One Direction 🙌 And “..I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight so this award is for Rina, Charli, Florence, Mabel and Becky.” pic.twitter.com/zs2ZM9T4qX
“As long as I’m aware of the fact that it’s not ideal, but also that finding alternatives is really complex,” Bella explained. “I just hope there’s more space for nonbinary people to be recognized within [future] categories."
