The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey says their gender “has always been very fluid”

Bella Ramsey has opened up about their gender identity.

While promoting the release of their new show, HBO’s long-awaited adaptation of The Last of Us, Ramsey revealed to The New York Times that their gender has “always been very fluid”.

“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,” said the star, who opts for “non-binary” on a form when it’s an option. “I’m very much just a person.”

For their acclaimed performance in Lena Dunham’s film Catherine Birdy, Ramsey is nominated for a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. Ramsey said it was “pleasing” to be nominated in a gender-neutral category.

“Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less,” Ramsey added.

The star memorably shot to fame as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, before starring as Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch, Angelica in His Dark Materials and Jane Gray in Becoming Elizabeth.

The Last of Us stars The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal as Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting teenager Ellie (Ramsey) out of a quarantine zone across a post-apocalyptic wasteland in the United States.

Staying faithful to the source material, Ellie – who is immune to the Cordyceps brain infection and is the key to creating a vaccine for the virus – will be depicted as a lesbian.

The drama also stars Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv and Merle Dandridge, with support from Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Storm Reid, Scott Shepherd, Troy Baker, Jeffrey Pierce, Ashley Johnson and Rutina Wesley.

The Last of Us has received overwhelming acclaim – scoring a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes – with critics hailing the series as the best live-action video game adaptation. Ramsey and Pascal’s performances have also been met with praise.

Season one will consist of nine episodes and premieres 16 January in the UK on Sky Atlantic. Watch the trailer here or below.