Bella Ramsey has a decent shot at Emmy success this year — and won’t quibble if competing in the Lead Actress category.
The British star of HBO hit The Last of Us identifies as non-binary and prefers the they/them pronouns, but said it was fine for people to “call me how you see me.”
Speaking on Spotify’s The Louis Theroux Podcast about gendered award categories, Ramsey said it was important “recognition for women in the industry is preserved.”
“I don’t have the answer and I wish that there was something that was an easy way around it, but I think that it is really important that we have a female category and a male category,” Ramsey added.
The former Game of Thrones star said they had thought hard about how to represent non-binary individuals in award categories, but did not have a solution.
One idea was to name the category “best performance in a female character,” but Ramsey said this creates issues for those portraying non-binary characters on screen.
One thing Ramsey is certain of is that being called an “actress” feels uneasy. “I have a guttural, ‘That’s not quite right,’ instinct to it,” Ramsey said. “But I just don’t take it too seriously … it doesn’t feel like an attack on my identity.”
Ramsey was nominated for an Emmy in 2023 for portraying Ellie in The Last of Us. At the time, they celebrated the recognition from the Television Academy.
If nominated again, Ramsey has a shot at becoming the youngest Outstanding Lead Actress in Emmys history, an accolade currently held by Zendaya for her performance on Euphoria.
Ramsey identifies as non-binary, not because it is “trendy,” but because they “grew up more as a little boy than I did a little girl.”
Ramsey continued: “It’s been very obvious since I was young. I always called myself a tomboy, but it wasn’t that I was a boyish girl, I was always like a bit of an in-between. Leaning most of the boys side.
“To be honest, I grew up more as a little boy than I did a little girl. I always felt more masculine or more on that side of the spectrum. I guess at the moment I don’t feel like I have access to femininity.”
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