‘The Last of Us’: Actor Bella Ramsey Perfected Her American Accent Thanks to Curse Words
Sometimes fans are surprised when learning the leading actors in a series are not American. The HBO Max series The Last of Us has taken center stage as actor Bella Ramsey enthralled everyone with her on-screen portrayal of the video game character, Ellie Williams. The teen character traveling across an infected America has quit the mouth on her. Ramsey is a British-born actor and reveals how she mastered the American accent.
Who is Ellie Williams in ‘The Last of Us’?
The Last of Us follows a familiar storyline trope regarding a post-apocalyptic reality. Like the video games, Ellie was born into the aftermath of a world ravaged by a fungal virus that turns people into monsters. The Cordyceps virus is the main enemy of The Last of Us, even 20 years after the initial outbreak. Ellie was born in the Boston quarantine zone as an orphan and attended military school.
But Ellie is not someone to follow the rules and grew tired of it. Ellie is kept by the Fireflies and its leader Marlene (Merle Dandridge) in The Last of Us. At first, fans quickly guess why they test her cognitive abilities daily. Ellie’s importance is simple: she is the possible cure for the virus.
The Fireflies planned to move her west to a secret facility where she could be studied. But chaos ensues, and Marlene and some of the Fireflies are wounded. By chance, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv) got involved, and Ellie was taken into their care.
In The Last of Us series and the video game, Ellie was bitten by an infected but never turned despite testing positive for the virus. The character of Ellie is a spitfire with a bit of an attitude and is prone to curse words.
Curse words were the key to Bella Ramsey speaking with an American accent in ‘The Last of Us’
Ramsey appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden alongside Regina Hall. Promoting the HBO Max series, Corden explains that many British actors have difficulty learning and speaking with an American accent. For fans who have never heard of Ramsey before The Last of Us, many would have never guessed she is originally from the United Kingdom.
The actor credits her American accent to curse words. “I had a dialect coach, which was helpful. The first phrase I mastered was ‘olive oil.’ It’s really hard, like ‘olive oil.’ And then ‘motherf***er.’ So ‘olive oil’ to ‘motherf***er’,” explained Ramsey. Hall comically added that curse words are really all someone needs to get the American accent right.
Ramsey explains that Ellie in The Last of Us is prone to using many curse words when she talks, and learning how to pronounce them correctly was essential. When describing her character, Ramsey says, “she’s a f***ing a*shole.” Hall also gave the young actor props for her accent and use of words.
Actor Bella Ramsey made a name for herself on ‘Game of Thrones’
The 19-year-old actor is tagged as having been born in Nottingham, England, while Corden explains she is from Lestershire. Before The Last of Us, Ramsey had her breakthrough role in the highly-acclaimed and award-winning series Games of Thrones. She played the role of young noblewoman Lyanna Mormont. In 2017, she played the title character in the CBBC series, The Worst Witch.
The following year, she voiced the leading character of Netflix’s animated series based on the graphic novels Hilda. Before the HBO Max series, fans may remember her for her role as Angelia in six episodes of His Dark Materials.
Ramsey has something in common with her The Last of Us character. In the video games, Ellie develops romantic feelings for her friend Riley. While not fully stating Ellie’s sexual orientation, she is gay. According to Deadline, Ramsey announced she is gender-fluid. “Someone would call me ‘she’ or ‘her’ and I wouldn’t think about it. But I knew that if someone called me ‘he,’ it was a bit exciting,” said the actor. “Being gendered isn’t something that I particularly like But in terms of pronouns, I really couldn’t care less.”
