Bella Ramsey has said the fallout of their decision to come out as non-binary has been “a mixed bag”.
The 21-year-old actor, who rose to international fame in season six of Game of Thrones, came out as non-binary and gender-fluid in 2023.
In a subsequent interview with British Vogue, Ramsey said they are comfortable with the use of any pronouns, but stipulated that “being called ‘they’ is the most truthful thing for me”.
Ramsey made the announcement during the promotion for the hit HBO series The Last of Us, in which they star opposite Pedro Pascal in a TV adaptation of the popular video game of the same name.
It generated a lot of conversation among fans of the game and also internet trolls who were furious about the inclusion of LGBT+ characters in the games.
Speaking about their decision to come out as non-binary in a new interview with The Guardian, Ramsey said they weren’t prepared for the attention.
“Part of me looks back and I wish that I didn’t [come out], because I didn’t want it to become a headline and a big thing. And obviously it was going to, and I didn’t really understand that at the time. And I wasn’t really prepared for that,” they said.
“But on the other hand, people have said to me that it’s been very helpful for them seeing some representation.”
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“So it’s been a mixed bag, but overall, I think it was a good thing, just for me living more freely, without feeling like I’m keeping a secret,” Ramsey said.
“But now I’m like, ‘I’ll talk about it, but I don’t want it to be the focus any more.’ I guess I’m just quite chill with it. And I want everyone else to be as chill with it basically.”
Ramsey is currently starring in the much-anticipated second season of The Last of Us, which is releasing new episodes weekly on Sky in the UK.
In a four-star review, The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton wrote: “Bella Ramsey – who cut their teeth helping to face down the Night King in Game of Thrones – has been acclaimed by critics in their role as Ellie, if not by the game’s most rabid fans. As ever, the critics have it right.
Their character, here, has developed under Joel’s clear tuition, becoming tougher, more stoical and yet losing nothing of that streak of innocence that immunises them against moral collapse.”
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