The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey celebrates first Emmy nomination with sweet tribute to Pedro Pascal
The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal is always singing the praises of co-star Bella Ramsey (Getty/HBO)
Bella Ramsey has scored their first Emmy nomination among a historic sweep for hit series The Last of Us – and fans couldn’t be happier.
There’s no doubt that HBO Max’s series is one of the best TV shows to grace our screens in recent years. Now the post-apocalyptic drama, starring Ramsey as lesbian teen Ellie and the internet’s “daddy” Pedro Pascal as hardened survivor Joel, has once more proven its brilliance as the first video-game adaptation to earn major Emmy consideration – with a jaw-dropping 24 nominations.
Ramsey, who earned their first nomination in the category for outstanding lead actress in a drama series, follows in the footsteps of The Crown‘s Emma Corrin and Hacks star Carl Clemons-Hopkins as the third openly non-binary person to land an Emmy nod.
Although the 19-year-old actor has said gendered awards make them feel “uncomfortable”, they celebrated their Emmy nomination with a beautiful tribute to co-star Pascal, who made history in his own right as the most-recognised Latino in a single year, with three nominations.
It’s no secret that Ramsey and Pascal, awarded best duo at the MTV awards, are close friends both on and off screen. Describing him as a their “rock” and “best sidekick ever”, Ramsey released a touching statement.
“I’m so happy for the entire team and immensely proud of this show and everyone involved,” they said. “I’m especially proud of my friend [and co-star] Keivonn Woodard (his first job and first nomination) [at 10, the second-youngest nominee ever], my brain soulmate [series writer] Craig Mazin, and my rock and the best sidekick ever… Pedro Pascal.
“It was the best year of my life shooting The Last of Us, so to be given this recognition alongside other phenomenal performers makes my little heart feel very big, thank you.”
Just hours before the nominations were announced, Ramsey also shared a series sweet photos of the two on Instagram with the caption: “I miss it” to which Pascal replied: “I miss u”, with a heart emoji.
Ramsey also posted another tribute to Pascal on their Instagram story. “The beautiful person behind me in this photo just got 3 Emmy nominations. 3!!!”, they wrote alongside a behind-the-scenes photo from The Last of Us.
Pascal also re-shared several celebratory reactions to his Emmy nominations on his Instagram story.
Fans have also voiced their joy for Ramsey on social media.
They deserve it 😭😭😭🎊🎊🎊 so proud of them
— reanna (@rekaro__) July 12, 2023
Ramsey is not the only LGBTQ+ talent to get recognition for their stellar performance. Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman received nominations for outstanding guest actor in a drama series, for the acclaimed The Last of Us episode “Long Long Time”, which portrayed a heart-wrenching gay love story.
Rising star Storm Reid, who played Ellie’s brief love interest Riley in the first season, also landed a nomination in the outstanding guest actress in a drama series category, alongside gay favourite Melanie Lynskey for her role as villainous militant Kathleen.
“I feel extremely blessed and truly honoured to be nominated among these incredible actors. The experience of taping my episode of The Last of Us was nothing short of a dream,” Reid said.
“Thank you to Craig Mazin for believing in my talent and seeing me as Riley. Sending all my congratulations to Bella, Pedro, the full cast and crew, and everyone nominated today.”
The Emmy Awards ceremony takes place on 18 September.
The Last of Us season one is available to stream on HBO Max, and available on demand on Sky Atlantic, in the UK. There is currently no release date for season two.
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