Bella Ramsey becomes first publicly non-binary actor to secure multiple Emmy Award nominations

Bella Ramsey has become the first publicly non-binary actor to secure multiple acting nominations at the Emmy Awards.

Ramsey, who uses they/them pronouns, is somewhat controversially nominated in the Best Actress in a Drama Series category at the 2025 Emmy Awards.

The nod is for their role in HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us season two, in which they play sinewy survivalist and queer protagonist, Ellie Williams.

Season two focussed much on Ellie’s blossoming – if fraught – relationship with fellow Jackson resident, Dina (Isabela Merced).

Bella Ramsey will go up against Matlock actress Kathy Bates, Bad Sisters star Sharon Horgan, Severance’s Britt Lower, and The Diplomat’s Keri Russell in the category.

The actor was first nominated for an Emmy Award back in 2024, also in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category for The Last of Us. That year, Ramsey lost out on the win to Succession’s Sarah Snook.

Other non-binary actors, including The Crown’s Emma Corrin, have previously been nominated for an Emmy Award, but no non-binary actor has received more than one nomination.

Earlier this year, Ramsey spoke about why it’s “important” that major award shows keep gendered categories.

“I think it’s so important that that’s preserved as well, recognition for women in the industry is preserved,” they told Louis Theroux on The Louis Theroux Podcast.

“I think the gendered categories conversation is a really interesting one and I don’t have the answer, and I wish that there was something that was an easy way around it, but I think that it is really important that we have a female category and a male category,” they shared.

“But then where do non-binary or gender non-conforming people fit into that? I don’t know. I’ve thought about, I’ve literally sat and tried to think my way to the answer and haven’t got there.”

Ramsey’s co-star Pedro Pascal, who played her father figure Joel in The Last of Us, bagged a Best Actor in a Drama Series nomination, while The Last of Us also secured a nod in the Best Drama Series category.

Other major LGBTQ+ nominees at the 2025 Emmy Awards include Cooper Koch for his role in Ryan Murphy series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and Ayo Edebiri for her role in The Bear.

Queer-inclusive shows with nods at this year’s ceremony include Hacks, The White Lotus, Abbott Elementary, and What We Do in the Shadows.

The Emmy Awards will take place on 14 September.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.