The Last of Us' Bella Ramsey responds to cruel backlash over her Ellie casting

19 January 2023, 14:11

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By Katie Louise Smith

"It’s only recently that I’ve accepted I am Ellie, and I can do it, and I am a good actor."

The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey has responded to the cruel backlash from trolls and toxic fans that she faced after being cast as Ellie in the new series.

Prior to Bella's casting in the HBO series, fans of the best-selling video game had very strong thoughts and feelings about who should play the role. However, when Bella was eventually announced as Ellie, people began commenting that she was not right for the role. Their reasoning? Mostly because she didn't look exactly like the video game depiction of the character.

Safe to say that after the first episode (Jan 15), Bella Ramsey has well and truly proved those doubters wrong. Bella is the perfect Ellie, but she's recently opened up that the comments did weigh on her mind for a while prior to the release of the show.

Bella was 17 when it was announced that she had landed the role of Ellie Williams. And in an interview with The New York Times, she admitted that she did actually fall into a bad habit of looking at what that certain group of fans of the game were saying about her online.

"It’s the first time I’ve ever had a negative reaction to something," the 19-year-old said. "There would be times I’d find it funny. Then I’d get to the end of a 10-minute scrolling session, put my phone down and realize: Maybe that was a bad idea."

Bella continued: "It’s only recently that I’ve accepted I am Ellie, and I can do it, and I am a good actor, but this will last for a few weeks and then I’ll think I’m terrible again. That’s just the process."

At time of publication, only one episode of The Last of Us has been released and fans on social media have been obsessed with Bella's performance, as well as her genuine off-screen rapport with Pedro Pascal.

Thankfully, the negative comments have not diminished Bella's enthusiasm for the show or the role. Speaking to Elle, Bella said that she'd play Ellie for as long as possible – or, "forever," as she puts it.

"There’s no limits for me," Ramsey says. "They can do as many games as they like, as many series as they like, and I’ll be here, flying back out to Canada."

The Last of Us season 2 has not been confirmed by HBO just yet but based on the reaction to the first episode alone, we're sure there'll be more to come.

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