Bella Ramsey recently talked about how weird and stressful it felt choosing their pronouns when The Last of Us first started getting attention. They opened up about it on Louis Theroux’s podcast, which is now in its fifth season.
The HBO series, where Bella stars alongside Pedro Pascal, just wrapped up its second season.
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Thinking about pronouns wasn’t really on their mind before
Bella said they didn’t really think about pronouns until the first season was about to come out.
“I never thought about pronouns really until season one of The Last of Us was coming out. Suddenly I had to choose what pronoun I wanted people to write about me with,” said Bella.
The whole thing got pretty stressful
Even though they didn’t feel super strongly about it, Bella still found the pressure kind of overwhelming.
“I was so stressed out about it because I didn’t know, and I didn’t really care. But I found the whole thing quite stressful still.”
On set, they just went with whatever felt easiest
There were questions again while filming season two, especially around how people on set should refer to them. Bella didn’t give a big speech or anything — they just kept it simple.
“There was a thing on Last of Us this season, it was a question again of, on set what should people refer to me by? And I just said, my thing at the moment is call me how you see me.”
Getting misgendered didn’t really bother them
Bella said they weren’t too upset when people got it “wrong.” In fact, they kind of understood where people were coming from.
“I’m so aware that I get into a taxi and the taxi guy’s gonna call me ‘she’. It’s just a natural thing that happens in your brain… which I completely get.”
Pronouns just aren’t a huge deal for them
While some folks are really particular about being called the right thing, Bella isn’t too fussed about it.
“I’ve never been strict about ‘they/them’, because I think I just don’t really care. Also, I’m very comfortable in who I am. I know how important it is for other people, but for me it’s not as important right now.”
The Emmy nomination triggered many questions
Louis brought up the fact that Bella got nominated in a female category at the Emmys, and how some fans weren’t happy about that.
“There was a little bit of a fuss when you were nominated in the female category for acting, was it the Emmy? Some people took that as insulting to you,” said Louis.
Bella didn’t take offense at the category choice
Bella explained they didn’t find it offensive. They actually saw value in keeping space for women in those awards.
They believe female and male categories still matter
It’s not that Bella thinks the current setup is perfect, but they do think it’s still important.
“I think it’s so important that that’s preserved as well, recognition for women in the industry is preserved.
“I think the gendered categories conversation is a really interesting one and I don’t have the answer and I wish that there was something that was an easy way around it, but I think that it is really important that we have a female category and a male category,” they said.
There’s still no clear spot for non-binary folks
Bella’s thought about it a lot, like really sat down and tried to figure it out, but there’s no easy fix.
“But then where do non-binary or gender non-conforming people fit into that? I don’t know. I’ve thought about, I’ve literally sat and tried to think my way to the answer and haven’t got there.”
Coming out felt scary at first, but freeing too
Bella first came out as non-binary during The Last of Us promo back in January 2023.
Looking back, they had mixed feelings about it — they hadn’t realized how big of a deal it would become.
“Part of me looks back and I wish that I didn’t, because I didn’t want it to become a headline and a big thing,” they told The Guardian.
“And obviously it was going to, and I didn’t really understand that at the time. And I wasn’t really prepared for that. But on the other hand, people have said to me that it’s been very helpful for them seeing some representation.
“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.”
You can catch The Louis Theroux Podcast on Spotify and all podcast platforms.
