Bella Ramsey wore a chest binder for ‘90 per cent’ of The Last of Us: ‘Please bind safely’
Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us. (Liane Hentscher/HBO)
Bella Ramsey, who plays 14-year-old Ellie (humanity’s last hope) in the post-apocalyptic series The Last of Us, has revealed that she wore a chest binder during most of the show’s filming.
Speaking to GQ magazine, Ramsey, 19, said that she wore a chest binder for “90 per cent” of the time that the cameras were rolling, but followed up with a warning around wearing the functional item of clothing correctly.
“[Wearing a binder for that long] probably isn’t healthy, please bind safely,” she said, adding that the chest binder allowed her to focus better on set.
Binding is a practice of using a garment or cloth to compress or minimise chest tissue to achieve a flatter or more traditionally masculine chest appearance. While some people choose to bind daily – as Ramsey did – trans charity Mermaids UK advises not to do so for longer than an eight hours at a time.
Gender-fluid Ramsey also spoke about her relationship with Pedro Pascal, who plays Joel in hit show.
Pascal, as well as being the internet’s daddy, is a fierce trans ally to his older sister. Ramsey said that he was “super supportive” on set, and they spoke openly about gender and sexuality.
The Last of Us has surprisingly good representation for a series billed around fungal zombies – it’s already widely regarded as one of the best video-game adaptations of all time, with critics and fans giving the show’s direction, tone, performances and writing huge amounts of praise, not least for the portrayal of gay couple Bill and Frank.
Season two, which was given the green light after only two episodes of the current season aired, is expected to follow the plot of the video game’s sequel, The Last of Us: Part Two.
This would involve Ellie in an unapologetic lesbian relationship with a character named Dina. The second game also follows dual protagonist/antagonist Abby, whose plot centres around helping a young trans boy named Lev.
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