Bella Ramsey opens up about why they believe acting awards should be gendered

Bella Ramsey has just shared their position on gendered awards categories. The actor was a guest on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, and the host asked them about their experience of being non-binary in the film and TV industry.

In particular, Louis and Bella discussed the question of awards categories, and whether it's most appropriate to have gendered categories or not — with both of them agreeing that having a female and male category is the best option for the time being.

"I think it's so important that that's preserved, that the recognition for women in the industry is preserved," Bella said, referring to the risk of women not being nominated if there's only one category. "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, but then where do non-binary or gender non-conforming people fit into that?"

Bella went on to think out loud about what the solution might be, explaining that they'd thought about whether a "best performance in a female character" category could work (they play a woman in The Last of Us). But they then realised that this would exclude actors playing nonbinary characters.

"It's really complicated," they said.

The conversation is a complex one. Bella explained that they're comfortable being nominated for awards in the female category even though it's not exactly the right fit, but other non-binary performers may feel differently. For example, the non-binary actor Liv Hewson - from the series Yellowjackets - opted out of Emmy nominations in 2023 because they felt there wasn't a category that represented them.

They said at the time: "There’s not a place for me in the acting categories. It would be inaccurate for me to submit myself as an actress. It neither makes sense for me to be lumped in with the boys. It’s quite straightforward and not that loaded. I can’t submit myself for this because there’s no space for me."