The Last of Us Star Bella Ramsey Loves "Gay Army" of Supporters Online (Exclusive)

Bella Ramsey, the actress who portrays Ellie in HBO's The Last of Us, has praised the "gay army" of supporters that she has received as the show has continued to air. As Season 1 of The Last of Us has continued onward, Ramsey has started to receive even more acclaim for her performance as Ellie. This has been especially true during the past couple of episodes which primarily center around Ellie as Joel was somewhat left on the sidelines. And although Ramsey herself says she hasn't tried to pay too much attention to comments from fans, that hasn't kept her from seeing some of the dialogue that has come about online. 

In a new conversation with ET and ComicBook.com's The Last of Pods, Ramsey said that she has taken notice of much of the support that she has received on various social channels. Ramsey noted that Tumblr was one platform where she has been "trending" on multiple instances, which she found quite funny. Beyond this, though, Ramsey said that she's pleased to see that the love she is receiving from The Last of Us is much more amplified when compared to any hate that is directed her way. 

"I had an oath with Craig Mazin that I wasn't going to look at comments, and I feel like I've slightly dramatically blown open that oath the last couple of weeks," Ramsey said. "I'm very aware that there's a gay army who are on Twitter who are just supporting me and Ellie, and it's like they're so much louder than any people who still hate it, or hate the show, the homophobic trolls, whatever. And it's just like that feels nice to just have that army behind me. That's been a reaction that I've really enjoyed."

"And also [...] I love gamers' reactions to the show," Ramsey went on to expand. "That's the thing that feels most validating is when beloved gamers who are so invested in the game then say, 'This is so good, and lives up to all my expectations, and exceeds them.' That's the thing, that's the reaction that feels really, really cool."

Outside of the own praise that Ramsey has garnered, the young actress went on to say that she has also adored many of the memes related to The Last of Us that have also come about as the show has continued onward. Ramsey specifically stated that she enjoyed the cross-section of memes that relate to both The Last of Us video game and the HBO series. Even if Ramsey may have tried to hide from fan reactions to the show originally, it sounds like she has been nothing but thrilled with the response so far. 

The Last of Us is set to conclude this coming Sunday when the ninth and final episode of Season 1 will premiere on HBO and HBO Max at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT. A second season of The Last of Us has also been confirmed but it's not yet known when production on the follow-up slate of episodes will begin.