Bella Ramsey Reveals They Were Diagnosed With Autism While Filming ‘The Last of Us’

Bella Ramsey says they were diagnosed with autism while filming the debut season of HBO’s The Last of Us.

The Emmy-nominated star of the acclaimed post-apocalyptic drama series says a crew member on the show with an autistic daughter assumed they were autistic as well. That assumption inspired Ramsey to seek out a psychiatric assessment, which led to a formal diagnosis.

“I got diagnosed with autism when I was filming season one of The Last of Us,” Ramsey told British Vogue in a new profile.

The diagnosis proved something that Ramsey says they had “always wondered” about due to feeling like an outsider at school, and having, the article says, “sensory issues common to people on the autism spectrum and … painful hyperawareness of other people’s micro-expressions and body language.”

Ramsey says they believe the condition is helpful as an actor. “I’ve always been watching and learning from people,” Ramsey says. “Having to learn more manually how to socialize and interact with the people around me has helped me with acting,” and further described the diagnosis as, “freeing … It enables me to walk through the world with more grace towards myself about not being able to do the easy everyday tasks that everyone else seems to be able to do.”

Ramsey adds, regarding revealing the diagnosis, “There’s no reason for people not to know.”

In The Last of Us, Ramsey plays Ellie, the young survivor of an apocalyptic plague that has decimated humanity. After the first season, Ramsey became the first non-binary actor to ever be nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

At South by Southwest Film and TV Festival earlier this month, they teased how Ellie’s relationship with Joel (Pedro Pascal) has evolved after five years has passed in the world of the show. “[Joel and Ellie’s] relationship has changed a little, and we start to see why,” Ramsey said. “They’re not best of friends. She’s quite sad. But I mean, there’s a lot of layers to friendship.”

Season two of The Last of Us premieres April 13 on HBO and Max.