Bella Ramsey opened up about queer representation in The Last of Us. In an interview with L’Officiel, the actor referred to two episodes that focused on queer love stories.
“It was really nice to have two really queer episodes. Like, gay people exist, so why shouldn’t they exist in the apocalypse?” they told the outlet, “I really liked that it didn’t feel tacked on. It was so integral to this story, and so organically done, that it didn’t feel like, Oh, we’re just putting in these queer people for representation. This is the story, and it’s just a story of two people loving each other, and it was really beautiful.”
Ramsey, who talked about their gender identity in an interview with the New York Times in early 2023, also said that the description of the character Ellie really spoke to them. “I remember the character description that came through in the initial email about Ellie. Part of what Craig wrote in her description was that ‘she’s gay and she doesn’t care,’ or I think the actual words were ‘doesn’t give a fuck what you think,’” they recalled. “I just loved that from the get-go.”
In the months since, The Last of Us season one ended, Ramsey decided to quit Twitter sending a farewell message to their “gay army.” “My account will still be active for now but I will not be on here! Thank you my gay army and all the rest. Love you,” the tweet read.
Quitting the platform doesn’t mean the actor is taking a vacation. In early April, it was announced that they will star in a period drama titled Monstrous Beauty. According to Deadline, the film is about “an aspiring playwright in the court of King Charles II who suffers from a rare condition that means she is entirely covered in hair.”
This story originally appeared in Teen Vogue.