Even though she has won praise for her portrayal of Ellie in HBO’s The Last of Us, actor Bella Ramsey has faced more than her fair share of harsh online criticism for her appearance. Many trolls have ridiculed her looks and how she looks nothing like Ellie from the video games on which the show is based. Now, in an interview, the 21-year-old actor has admitted that she let the obsession get to her as well.
Bella Ramsey on not looking like Ellie
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor spoke about how she got fixated on her looks and how she did not have the muscle definition of Ellie. Bella said, “But I got quite fixated on the way that Ellie looks in the game and her physical stature and, to be specific, the muscle definition in her arms. And I didn’t look like that. My body type isn’t that. I talked about this a lot with Craig (Mazin, the showrunner), and he never put that expectation on me. He wanted me to look strong and feel strong, and that was in how I carried myself, my posture and the confidence you have. It was a challenge for me to let myself off the hook for not looking computer-generated.”
Bella deactivated their social media accounts a few months ago, right before the promotions for The Last of Us season 2 began. Many linked it to the relentless trolling the actor had been receiving over her portrayal of Ellie. Talking about the decision, Bella added, “I always knew that I’d [deactivate] it one day and never even really wanted to have social media in the first place. It wasn’t like this big, dramatic thing, but there was an element of it that was thinking about the show coming out for season two. If I just avoid Twitter and Reddit, which now I’m doing, then everything’s totally fine.”
About The Last of Us
The Last of Us is based on the video game series of the same name and streams on HBO globally (and JioHotstar in India). Apart from Bella, the show also stars Pedro Pascal and Kaitlyn Dever in the lead roles. Two episodes of season 2 have been released, with subsequent episodes set to drop weekly.
