Bella Ramsey: 11 facts about The Last of Us' Ellie you should know

1. Who is Bella Ramsey? Get to know the Last of Us star here

If you ever tuned into Game of Thrones, then you’ll know Bella Ramsey as the young actor who played Lady Lyanna Mormont in the series. Now, Bella is earning a whole new legion of fans as she stars as Ellie in HBO’s The Last of Us. Get to know the star here, from their previous on-screen roles, to their age, height and everything else in between. [Alamy]

2. How old is Bella Ramsey?

Bella Ramsey is 19 years old, as of 2022. Bella was born in September 2003 – her birthdate is reported September 30th. Bella became a household name at the age of 13 when she appeared in Game of Thrones. [Alamy]

3. How tall is Bella Ramsey?

According to Bella Ramsey’s IMDb page, she stands at around 5ft 1inch tall. For The Last of Us fans out there wondering just how well she matches up to her character Ellie, she’s just a few inches shorter than the character. Ellie’s height ranges between 5ft 3 inches and 5ft 5 inches in the games. [Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage]

4. Where is Bella Ramsey from?

Bella Ramsey is a British actor. She was born and raised in Nottingham, England. She started acting at the age of four, and attended Stagecoach performing Arts classes in the nearby town of Loughborough. [Alamy]

5. What is Bella Ramsey's real accent?

Despite speaking with an American accent in The Last of Us, Bella Ramsey’s real accent is in fact British. More specifically, seeing as she is from Nottingham, Bella speaks with a very slight Notts accent. Speaking about mastering her accent, she told James Corden: "I had a dialect coach which was helpful. The first phrase I mastered was 'olive oil.' It's really hard.” She also added that she had to learn how to swear in an American accent thanks to Ellie’s love of curse words. [Alamy]

6. What movies and TV shows has Bella Ramsey been in?

At just 19 years of age, Bella Ramsey has a pretty impressive filmography. Her first on-screen role was as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones (seasons 6-8). Her other notable TV roles include Mildren Hubble in CBBC’s The Worst Witch, Angelica in His Dark Materials, and, of course, Ellie in The Last of Us. On the big screen, Bella played Lorna Luft in 2019’s Judy and Birdy in 2021’s Catherine Called Birdy. [Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images]

7. Bella Ramsey plays Ellie Williams in HBO's The Last of Us

Bella Ramsey plays Ellie in HBO’s The Last of Us, opposite Pedro Pascal who plays Joel. Bella is absolutely phenomenal in the role, but she admits that the negative reaction surrounding her casting has played on her mind. “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,” she told The New York Times. “It’s only recently that I’ve accepted I am Ellie, and I can do it, and I am a good actor.”

8. How old was Bella Ramsey in Game of Thrones?

Bella Ramsey landed the role of Lady Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones when she 13 years old and, despite only appearing in 9 episodes (!), she instantly became a fan-favourite thanks to Lyanna’s savage scenes. As much as we all love her on the show, Bella admitted to Metro UK that she’s not so keen on her role: “For some reason, watching myself on Game of Thrones jars me. I just don’t enjoy watching my bits at all. Although it’s me, it’s kind of not me.” [HBO]

9. Bella Ramsey played Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch

Bella Ramsey landed the role of Mildred Hubble in children’s series The Worst Witch in 2017. Bella left the series after 3 seasons to focus on her mental health. In an Instagram post, Bella wrote: “It was completely my decision to say goodbye for reasons I can’t really go into but to everyone reading this, please prioritize your mental health and do what’s right for you.” Bella won the Young Performer award at the 2019 British Academy Children's Awards for the role. [@bellaramsey/Twitter]

10. Bella Ramsey comes out as gender fluid

Bella Ramsey opened up about being gender fluid in an interview with The New York Times. Speaking about how she identifies, Bella said: “I guess my gender has always been very fluid,” Ramsey said. “Someone would call me ‘she’ or ‘her’ and I wouldn’t think about it, but I knew that if someone called me ‘he’ it was a bit exciting.” [Alamy]

11. What are Bella Ramsey's pronouns?

Bella Ramsey has stated that she uses all pronouns, although she doesn’t mind how people address her. In an interview with The New York Times, Bella explained that she would check “non-binary” if it was an option on a form. She added: “I’m very much just a person. Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.” [Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic]

12. Bella Ramsey has released two songs for her film roles

As well as acting, Bella Ramsey is also a talented musician. For her role in Hilda, the animated Netflix series, Bella recorded a song called ‘The Life of Hilda’. On Instagram, Bella shared a short clip of her performing an early version of the song while playing along on the guitar. Bella also recorded ‘Birdy Song’ for her role in Catherine Called Birdy. [@bellaramsey via Instagram]