In an interview with The Independent, actor Bella Ramsey, 20, opened up about the challenges of being a child actor.
“Being a kid actor, I didn’t like the separation. The thing I hated the most was being patronized. I didn’t like the fact that I could only be on set for a certain amount of time, and had to go and do tutoring. I get why the hours protections for child actors are phenomenally important—but I hated feeling like I was lesser or separate from the adult cast,” they said.
It didn’t help that they “got along better” with adults than kids their age, which is why they left school at 12 to be privately tutored and take online classes. When it came to filming, “I wasn’t intimidated by going onto a set with a load of people twice, three times my age,” they said.
They credit their comfort on set to the way their brain works.
“I wouldn’t be an actor if it wasn’t for my neurodivergence. It’s just a part of me and it’s incredibly helpful in terms of acting. One of my things is that I have insane levels of visual perception compared to all other things. I’ve been watching and absorbing everything since I was really young…all these characters that I play, there’s an element of them that’s already inside me because I’ve seen someone be that before.”
They explained their love of the structure and routine of film sets as “incredibly beneficial for my brain.” Even the catering aspect is helpful so they don’t “have to make many decisions.”
“When I’m on set I really thrive,” they said, but when they go back to the real world, “It’s quite an intense pressure, which can be scary.”
Now they want to help other child actors find the same confidence.
“As I’ve grown up, I’ve learnt that I have autonomy to stand up for myself and for other younger people that I work with now. I want to enable them to advocate for themselves in the way that people older than me taught me to advocate for myself!”
Part of that advocacy, whether it was intentional or not, came in the form of being open about their struggles with body-image and gender identity. Especially after their role as Ellie in The Last of Us, Ramsey has been held forward as a representative for young people.
“There was a certain pressure that I think I put on myself, in terms of defining myself,” they said of how they handled that level of fame. They explained that they thought they might regret it, “Until I meet people who say they’ve been impacted by something that I’ve said, feeling seen—if I’ve been open about something like neurodivergence, or gender or whatever—that makes it worth it.”
“I think that’s the thing—normalising it, it just being something that’s part of my life but isn’t the main part, and isn’t something I’m thinking about all the time.”
While I may not be a member of Ramsey’s age demographic, I can say that it was a relief to hear a young actor speak so plainly about neurodivergence and gender identity, and not only that, but to explain those things as creative strengths rather than weaknesses.
What’s next for them?
“I want to play a villain. A real dark, evil, nasty human being.”
