"The Last of Us" Star Bella Ramsey Opens Up About Gender Identity and Being Called a "Powerful Young Woman"

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The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey recently opened up about her gender identity and what it means to play powerful women on screen. She plays queer teen and apocalypse survivor Ellie on the hit HBO series, in which she says she wore a chest binder "90%" of the time on-screen. Other roles she's played have required a more feminine appearance with costumes like corsets and gowns.

Per The New York Times, the 19-year-old actor identifies as nonbinary and uses any pronouns. "I'm very much just a person," she told The Times. "Being gendered isn't something that I particularly like."

In her latest interview with GQ, she also expressed that being called a "young woman" is bothersome.

"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]," Bella told GQ. "Catherine Called Birdy, I was in dresses. Young Elizabeth, I was in a corset. And I felt super powerful in that. Playing these more feminine characters is a chance to be something so opposite to myself, and it's really fun."

When it comes to portraying Ellie and her queer storyline on The Last of Us, Bella says that she's not letting the critics get to her. "I know people will think what they want to think. But they're gonna have to get used to it," she explained to GQ. "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."

The Last of Us airs every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. EST.

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