Bella Ramsey has shared that they pursued a formal autism diagnosis after a crew member noticed indicators while working on set.
The 21-year-old British actor, known for their role in the HBO series The Last of Us, discussed their ‘liberating’ autism diagnosis in a revealing interview with British Vogue.
Identifying as non-binary, Ramsey first gained recognition for their portrayal of Lyanna Mormont in HBO’s Game of Thrones, and later for playing Ellie in the post-apocalyptic series. They previously hesitated to discuss their neurodivergence publicly.
In the interview, Ramsey explained: “I’ve spoken a bit about neurodivergence before, but I always for some reason didn’t want to.
“I felt like I didn’t want to say what it was… shoot.
“I got diagnosed with autism when I was filming season one of The Last of Us.”
While filming in Canada, a crew member who had an autistic child suggested that Ramsey might also be autistic.
This interaction encouraged Ramsey to pursue a psychiatric evaluation, resulting in an autism diagnosis.
Ramsey shared they had ‘always wondered’ about the possibility, having experienced feelings of being a ‘weirdo’ and ‘loner’ in school, along with sensitivity to certain sensory inputs.
Now, they believe the diagnosis has been beneficial to their acting career.
“I’ve always been watching and learning from people,” they noted. “Having to learn more manually how to socialise and interact with the people around me has helped me with acting.”
Ramsey appreciates the structure of filming, stating: “I have a call time, and I’m told what to wear, how to stand, where to stand and what to eat.”
“[It’s] freeing… It enables me to walk through the world with more grace towards myself about not being able to do the easy everyday tasks that everyone else seems to be able to do.”
They further expressed that sharing their autism diagnosis allows them to ‘unmask immediately’.
“My experience of moving through the world is as an autistic person,” they said. “There’s no reason for people not to know.”
Having spent almost half their life in the public eye, Ramsey shot to fame at age 11 with Game of Thrones, after participating in the Nottingham-based acting group, Television Workshop.
At 12, Ramsey dealt with anorexia while starring as Mildred in the CBBC’s adaptation of The Worst Witch.
Ramsey mentioned struggling ‘for a couple of years’, saying: “I had this real need to, I think, show people in a physical way that I was struggling because I found it so hard to vocalise.”
According to Vogue, nearly 40 million viewers watched The Last of Us in 2023, making it HBO’s top-viewed show in Europe.
Ramsey is set to reprise their role as Ellie in the second season, premiering next month alongside co-star Pedro Pascal, who described Ramsey as a ‘soul partner at work and in life’.