Bella Ramsey Defends Queer Storylines in The Last of Us: ‘Get Used to It’

HBO’s TV adaptation of the zombie-ridden, post-apocalyptic The Last of Us video game has dominated our Sunday nights as of late, not in small part because of the unlikely duo at its center: 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and the survivalist savvy Joel (Pedro Pascal). Equally captivating was the show’s third episode, which featured the tender love story of Bill and Frank, and while the episode had me, personally, in tears, others had more antagonistic (read: homophobic) responses to the episode. But according to Ramsey, these queer plots aren’t going anywhere: “I know people will think what they want to think,” they told GQ in a recent interview. “But they’re gonna have to get used to it.”

Ramsey discussed their identity as a non-binary individual in a New York Times interview leading up to The Last of Us’ HBO premiere. “I guess my gender has always been very fluid,” they 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.” Pronouns, however, aren’t a huge concern for the actor. “Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.”

As a non-binary individual, Ramsey revealed that being able to use a chest binder while filming the show was important to their ability to do the job well. It also helped that their costar Pascal, who has a trans sister, was “super supportive.” Ramsey said the two have had frequent conversations about gender and sexuality.

“They weren’t always deep: They could be funny and humorous, the whole spectrum,” Ramsey said. “We were just very honest and open with each other.”

Thankfully, Bill and Frank’s love story is only the beginning of The Last of Us’s queer storylines and characters. Staying true to the contents of The Last of Us: Part II video game, the second season of the show (which is already in the works) will feature an older Ellie and her romance with a woman named Dina. Viewers will also be introduced to a trans teen named Lev who’s been ostracized by their very religious family. Despite the existing backlash to these narratives, Ramsey remains resolute in their importance: “If you don’t want to watch the show because it has gay storylines, because it has a trans character, that’s on you, and you’re missing out,” they said.

Ramsey added that getting to play mostly female characters has been both frustrating and liberating: “This is what bothers me more than pronouns: being called a ‘young woman’ or a ‘powerful young woman’, ‘young lady,’ but I’m just not [that],” they explained. Taking on more feminine roles in projects like Catherine Called Birdy and Becoming Elizabeth came with their own kind of empowerment: “Playing these more feminine characters is a chance to be something so opposite to myself, and it’s really fun,” Ramsey said.

As The Last of Us forges ahead this season, it’ll be interesting to see what takes fans hang on to and which ones they leave in the dust with the corpses of fungally infected zombies. If someone as hot as Pedro Pascual can exist in the end times, then I hope to god that queer people—and their love—can exist there, too.