Working on films and TV shows can be a truly immersive experience for any actor. After all, they spend several weeks and months playing a character who is completely different from who they are. This is especially true for The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey who admitted she had trouble returning to her normal life after filming for the HBO show.
Bella Ramsey recently spoke to W Magazine where she revealed that she had a hard time adjusting after working on The Last of Us for several months.
"It was very much like a grieving process," Ramsey said. "When I [first] got home, I found it difficult to settle back into being just Bella and speaking with a British accent again."
She then added that "The Last of Us is still the only thing I'm thinking about. I have such withdrawal symptoms from [the] set."
It's not a huge surprise that Ramsey struggled to revert back to being herself after being Ellie for a long time. After all, to anyone who has seen her performance as Ellie, it's clear that she truly became the character. Interestingly, Ramsey even gave her character a different reaction when she learned she had been infected.
“I hadn’t seen that bit of gameplay, and I’m really glad that I didn’t. I became aware after that I reacted differently to how Ellie reacts in the game,” Ramsey said. “I think it was maybe more explosive, and there was more anger, rather than fear.”
She continued, “I think that Ellie’s response is such intense emotion that she doesn’t know what to do with. It becomes very outward and expressive and explosive. That was really cool.”
Bella Ramsey is set to return as Ellie in The Last of Us Episode 8 which will focus on the character as she goes up against a group that tries to recruit her but might have an ulterior motive. The show's penultimate episode will premiere on HBO Max on Sunday, March 5, 2023.
Related: The Last of Us: Bella Ramsey Explains Ellie's Reaction To Being Infected in Episode 7
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