Bella Ramsey received an autism diagnosis while working on Season 1 of The Last of Us.
21-year-old Bella Ramsey revealed that they pursued a formal autism diagnosis after a crew member noticed certain signs while they were on set.
The British actor, known for their roles in The Last of Us and Game of Thrones, described the diagnosis as a liberating experience in an interview with British Vogue. Ramsey, who identifies as non-binary, admitted they had previously been reluctant to talk about being neurodivergent.
“I’ve spoken a bit about neurodivergence before, but I always for some reason didn’t want to,” said Ramsey. “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.”
Isabella May Ramsey first rose to fame as Lyanna Mormont in the iconic HBO fantasy TV drama Game of Thrones.
In the new HBO series, Bella plays the role of Ellie, a teenager immune to cordyceps fungus – an outbreak that transforms the human host into an infected zombie-like creature.
The Emmy-nominated star shared that while on the set of the hit show in Canada, a crew member who had a daughter with autism made the assumption that Ramsey might also be autistic.
The conversation led Ramsey to get a formal psychiatric assessment, which resulted in their autism diagnosis. They shared that the assessment helped answer questions they’d always had, like why they often felt out of place in school or struggled with sensory overload, especially when wearing heavy clothing in the cold while filming.
Now, Ramsey says the diagnosis has actually been beneficial for their acting.
“I’ve always been watching and learning from people,” they explained. “Having to learn more manually how to socialise and interact with the people around me has helped me with acting.”
“I have a call time, and I’m told what to wear, how to stand, where to stand, and what to eat,” Ramsey told the publication. “[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.”
The Game of Thrones actor shared that they are able to “unmask immediately” after revealing their autism diagnosis to others.
“My experience of moving through the world is as an autistic person. There’s no reason for people not to know.”
Bella Ramsey has been in the public eye since they were just 11 years old, landing their breakout role in Game of Thrones after getting their start at a local acting group in Nottingham.
At the age of 12, while working on The Worst Witch, they also faced a difficult time battling anorexia.
Bella also shared that during this time, they felt overwhelmed and had a hard time managing their emotions.
“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.”
Source: British Vogue
Leave A Comment:
What are your views on this update? Let us know in the comments below!
