Bella Ramsey, who became instantly popular with their appearance in Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, has opened up about their autism diagnosis in an interview for British Vogue. They said the diagnosis "freed" them after a crew member with a neurodivergent child on Season 1 of The Last of Us sensed that they were autistic after recognising behavioural familiarities.
A Golden Globe nominee, Ramsey has been doing the promotional rounds ahead of the premiere of the second season of The Last of Us on HBO on April 13.
“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 1 of The Last of Us,” they said, adding that the interaction with the crew member led them to undergo a psychiatric assessment followed by a formal diagnosis.
Ramsey, who came out as non-binary in a 2023 interview, said that while the autism diagnosis was liberating, they don't feel very comfortable about being put into a box when it comes to gender and sexuality. They also talked about feeling like a "weirdo" and "loner", recognising their feelings and how they connect to those around them, and the act of observing that helped them as an actor.
“I’ve always been watching and learning from people," they shared. "Having to learn more manually how to socialise and interact with the people around me has helped me with acting.”
Ramsey further went on to add that the diagnosis helped them have a better understanding of themself. “It enables me to walk through the world with more grace towards myself about not being able to do the easy everyday tasks everyone else seems able to do. My experience of moving through the world is as an autistic person. There’s no reason for people not to know.”
Ramsey broke out with their standout performance as Lyanna Mormont in Season 6 of Game of Thrones. Aside from the upcoming season of The Last of Us, Ramsey is part of the film Girl Next Door, inspired by the story of British terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow.
