The Last of Us premiered just last Sunday, and fans have been raving about the adaptation. It's only natural that series star Bella Ramsey would be doing promo work, and in one interview, Ramsey decided to come out as non-binary.
The Last of Us is HBO's adaptation of the video game of the same name. So far, it's been doing pretty well - The Last of Us' series premiere even trended over the NFL. The series is about Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Ramsey) who must navigate a post-apocalyptic America following the outbreak of the Cordyceps Brain Infection (CBI) - a plague which turns humans into hideous, mushroom-covered, zombie-like creatures.
In an interview with the New York Times, the actor revealed that they identify as non-binary, and do not mind any pronouns. “I guess my gender has always been very fluid,” Ramsey said. “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. [...] 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.”
Ramsey's coming out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community aligns him with his The Last of Us character. Though Ellie is not non-binary, she does fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella - she's a lesbian, an aspect of her character that the series will presumably explore later on. Ramsey's confident coming out also heralds a shift in GSM rights and visibility - not many actors fall under the non-binary label, and Ramsey is joining a growing cohort of people who can live as their authentic selves.
So far, The Last of Us has been a fairly straightforward adaptation. There have been a few changes, however - spores from the games won't be included in The Last of Us, for example. Ellie herself seems to be quite like her character in the games, and Ramsey is doing a great job with her portrayal so far. Perhaps Ellie's story could diverge from the games, however. It's known that The Last of Us episode 3 will be making 'radical changes' to the narrative, but what those changes might be have yet to be revealed. For now, fans can only speculate based on what they've seen in episode 1.
The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
Source: New York Times