Bella Ramsey Lost role as a Child Actor Because They Didn’t Have a “Hollywood Look”
At just 19 years old, Bella Ramsey has already established themself as a force to be reckoned with thanks to breakout performances in The Last of Us and Game of Thrones. But they weren’t always confident they would make it in the entertainment business. In a viral 2022 interview clip shared by Twitter user @sourkettle, Ramsey, who recently came out as nonbinary and uses any pronouns, remembered being rejected from one of their “first-ever” auditions due to their appearance.
“I was told [in] one of my first auditions ever… The director really liked me but I didn’t get the part because I didn’t have the ‘Hollywood look,’” Ramsey shared. “That’s something that I’ve always found very interesting.”
Although Ramsey never clarifies how old they were when they received this comment, they joined the cast of Game of Thrones at 11 years old, an unfortunate reminder that even Hollywood’s youngest stars are often subject to harmful standards.
The interview clip of Ramsey comes from a 2022 interview they gave to Good Day DC entertainment reporter Kevin McCarthy while promoting their film Catherine Called Birdy. McCarthy shared more footage from the interview on TikTok last Friday (March 24), in which he asks Ramsey and Birdy director Lena Dunham if there was anything they were asked to change about themselves when they began their acting careers.
In the extended clip, Ramsey adds: “I think I’m pleased now that I don’t have [the Hollywood look].”
“Isn’t it wild how people will say stuff like that?” Dunham interjects, naming ways in which she was told to change her appearance, such as “having my teeth done.”
“Oh, same!” Ramsey concurs.
This isn’t the first time that the young actor has been open about dealing with other people’s judgments. In a February interview with British GQ, Ramsey admitted that when they were first cast as The Last Of Us’ Ellie Williams, they doom-scrolled through hateful social media reactions, which often fixated on their “square head.”
“You’re looking for a comment that’s more painful than the last one,” they said. “I’d kid myself that I was doing it in jest.”
But Ramsey has proven their online detractors wrong, giving one of 2023’s first widely acclaimed performances as Ellie. And in the meantime, they’re grateful for the queer fandom backing them every step of the way.
“I’m very aware that there’s a gay army on Twitter who are supporting me and Ellie, and it feels like they’re so much louder than any people who still hate it, or hate the show, the homophobic trolls,” Ramsey said during a March 6 appearance on The Last of Pods podcast. “[It] feels nice to have that army behind me. That’s been a reaction that I’ve really enjoyed.”