Bella Ramsey is known these days for playing the lead role of Ellie on The Last of Us, but they got their start on another high-profile HBO show: Game of Thrones, where they played the pint-sized lady of Bear Island, Lyanna Mormont.
In her very first scene on the show, Lyanna Mormont was lying down the law for Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) and Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham). "You brought a confidence and clarity that was quite unusual for a young actor," Kit Harington told Ramsey in a feature for Interview. "It didn’t feel like working with a child. It felt like working with a very experienced actor."
It does indeed sound like Ramsey came in prepared beyond their years, even helping out Kit Harington with his lines...whether he asked or not. "I don’t know whether you remember this, but I remember it quite vividly and have some remorse for it now, but during that scene I was mouthing your lines to you," Ramsey remembered.
"RAMSEY: Now I’m like, “Oh my gosh, how awful.” But at the time it came from a very innocent place of being like, “Kit’s struggling with his line and I know it, so let me just mouth it to him.”"
Looking back, Ramsey was afraid that this behavior came off as "annoying," but Harington was grateful for it at the time. "I do remember you helping me out and it being quite humiliating," he laughed. "But yeah, thanks for that. I’ve probably chosen to forget it...I was like, 'Oh god, I’ve got to up my game. I came here not really being comfortable enough with my lines, in the arrogance of however old I was, thinking I’m just opposite some child. And then that child actor is wiping me off the screen.' Not that it’s a competition, but you’re like, 'Oh, I’ve got a bit too comfortable in my Jon Snow-ness.'”
Bella Ramsey was "terrified" of geting famous from The Last of Us
With that being the start of their career, it's no surprise that Ramsey went on to do big things; The Last of Us is a huge hit for HBO, and may well get bigger if it keeps pulling off huge plot twists like it's been doing.
At first, Ramsey was "terrified" to sign on to The Last of Us because it meant "reaching a level of fame that doesn’t go away." But two seasons in, they've found some perspective.
"I realize now that actually, you reach this level of fame that stays for a few months while the show’s coming out, and then it does sort of die off. If you don’t do anything to maintain that level of fame, the world moves on, which I’m so grateful for."
It's true that Ramsey has gotten a lot of attention lately, not all of it flattering. But Ramsey's naysayers shut up pretty quickly when new episodes started airing and their performance became undeniable. I don't think they have anything to worry about going forward.
New episodes of The Last of Us air Sunday nights on HBO and Max. As for Harington, he recently joined the cast of the HBO show Industry for its third season, so both actors are still finding work at the studio that gave them their first big boost.
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