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Bella Ramsey reprises her role as Ellie in season two of The Last of Us
“I made a real decision when I was, like, 11 that I wasn’t gonna be like a typical teenager,” says Bella Ramsey.
Talk about an understatement.
By the time Bella was 13, they had been cast in the world’s biggest TV show at the time, Game of Thrones.
And when the actor, now 21 years old, speaks to BBC Newsbeat, it’s the night after walking the red carpet at the London premiere of The Last of Us season two.
The smash-hit adaptation of the PlayStation video game was a critical and ratings success, launching the young star to full-on leading role status.
“I think it’s quite a unique experience,” Bella, who’s originally from Nottingham, England, modestly admits.
The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season one.
Talk about an understatement.
By the time Bella was 13, they had been cast in the world’s biggest TV show at the time, Game of Thrones.
And when the actor, now 21 years old, speaks to BBC Newsbeat, it’s the night after walking the red carpet at the London premiere of The Last of Us season two.
The smash-hit adaptation of the PlayStation video game was a critical and ratings success, launching the young star to full-on leading role status.
“I think it’s quite a unique experience,” Bella, who’s originally from Nottingham, England, modestly admits.
The rest of this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season one.
Bella, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, plays Ellie in the HBO drama, set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has been almost wiped out by cordyceps.
The deadly parasitic fungus turns humans into zombie-like creatures, but Ellie is immune from infection and is humanity’s last hope for a cure.
In the first season, viewers saw a father-daughter relationship slowly blossom between Ellie and mercenary Joel, played by Pedro Pascal.
After escorting the 14-year-old on a dangerous journey across the USA to meet doctors working on a vaccine, it becomes apparent Ellie must die for a potential remedy to be produced.
Rather than sacrifice her, Joel kills the medics and flees with the unconscious teenager.
When she awakes, he lies to her about what happened, and season one’s cliffhanger ending leaves viewers with the strong impression that Ellie is well aware of the deception.
The deadly parasitic fungus turns humans into zombie-like creatures, but Ellie is immune from infection and is humanity’s last hope for a cure.
In the first season, viewers saw a father-daughter relationship slowly blossom between Ellie and mercenary Joel, played by Pedro Pascal.
After escorting the 14-year-old on a dangerous journey across the USA to meet doctors working on a vaccine, it becomes apparent Ellie must die for a potential remedy to be produced.
Rather than sacrifice her, Joel kills the medics and flees with the unconscious teenager.
When she awakes, he lies to her about what happened, and season one’s cliffhanger ending leaves viewers with the strong impression that Ellie is well aware of the deception.
So when the new season begins, five years later, “obviously there’s tension in that relationship,” says Bella.
“It was quite horrible to play.”
Young Bella’s vow to not be a “typical teenager” was actually less about their career and more about their relationship with their parents, they say.
No screaming matches, no slamming doors.
“So I never went through that with my dad,” says Bella. “Me and my dad are great.”
“So it was kind of sad to do that with Ellie and Joel.”
But, Bella adds, Ellie “is very justified in her feelings about everything”.
“It was quite horrible to play.”
Young Bella’s vow to not be a “typical teenager” was actually less about their career and more about their relationship with their parents, they say.
No screaming matches, no slamming doors.
“So I never went through that with my dad,” says Bella. “Me and my dad are great.”
“So it was kind of sad to do that with Ellie and Joel.”
But, Bella adds, Ellie “is very justified in her feelings about everything”.
