Bella Ramsey, the actor known for playing Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones and Ellie in The Last of Us, spoke publicly about being autistic in a March 2025 interview with British Vogue. Ramsey, who uses they/them pronouns, said they were diagnosed while filming the first season of The Last of Us.
It was a short part of a longer interview, but it got a lot of attention, and for good reason. Autistic people who don’t fit the familiar stereotype are still widely overlooked, and a well known actor talking about it plainly helps.
What Bella Ramsey has said about their diagnosis
According to reports of the interview, Ramsey was diagnosed at around 18. Some reports say a crew member, whose own child is autistic, recognised something familiar and that this led Ramsey to seek an assessment.
Ramsey described the diagnosis as “freeing”. As reported by TheWrap, they said it “enables me to walk through the world with more grace towards myself.” They also said there is “no reason for people not to know” that they experience the world as an autistic person.
Ramsey talked about growing up with sensory differences, including discomfort with having “too much stuff” on their body, which came up when filming outdoor scenes in heavy thermals. They also said the diagnosis hasn’t meant they can simply stop masking straight away, but that they feel more relaxed.
That combination will be familiar to many people diagnosed as teenagers or adults. A diagnosis rarely changes everything overnight. What it often does is give you a way of understanding your own history without blaming yourself for it.
Why this matters for how autism is understood
For decades, autism research and diagnosis focused mainly on boys and men. Many girls, women and non-binary people have been missed or diagnosed late, often because they learned to mask differences in order to fit in. Our article on high masking neurodivergent employees explains why masking makes people harder to spot and why it is so tiring.
Ramsey came out as non-binary in 2023 and has been open about not liking every label they have been given, while finding the autism label helpful. Plenty of autistic people hold several identities at once, and each one can shape how they are treated and whether they feel safe being open.
Screen portrayals of autism have often leaned on one narrow image: a white man or boy with extraordinary abilities. Real autistic people are far more varied than that. Hearing from someone like Ramsey, who doesn’t fit that template, widens the picture.
Representation and the workplace
Public figures talking about their neurodivergence can make it easier for others to do the same. That is true at work too. Many autistic employees never share their diagnosis because they worry about stigma or being seen differently.
Employers can change that. When managers understand that autism looks different in different people, and when adjustments are offered without fuss, people are far more likely to say what they need. We have written about other public figures who have shared their experience, including Cat Burns on her neurodivergence and seven neurodivergent women worth knowing about.
How Enna can help
If Bella Ramsey’s story feels familiar and you are thinking about how to talk about being autistic at work, our disclosure templates give you a simple starting point. Looking for an employer that values neurodivergent people? Browse the Enna jobs board or register for job alerts.
For employers, our autism in the workplace guide is a practical place to begin. The neurodiversity deep dive workshop goes further, helping teams understand masking, late diagnosis and how to make everyday work more inclusive for autistic colleagues.
