The Nyad star gushed about how much she was inspired by The Last Of Us icon in a recent interview
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY DREAMSTIME
Queer icon Jodie Foster revealed in a recent interview that she admired The Last Of Us’ Bella Ramsey so much that she requested they be introduced. Speaking to The Guardian, the Nyad star shared that she had gone up to Bella at Elle’s Women In Hollywood event after seeing their outfit.
Bella, who identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, was wearing a suit at the event. This is what caught Jodie’s eye.
“I reached out to Bella, because we’d never met, and said, ‘I want you to introduce me at this thing’, which is a wonderful event about actors and people in the movies, but is also very much a fashion thing. Which means it’s determining who represents us,” she explained.
“[The organisers] are very proud of themselves because they’ve got every ethnicity, and I’m like, yeah, but all the attendees are still wearing heels and eyelashes,” Jodie continued. “There are other ways of being a woman, and it’s really important for people to see that. And Bella, who gave the best speech, was wearing the most perfect suit, beautifully tailored, and a middle parting and no makeup.”
At the Elle Women In Hollywood event in December 2023, Jodie gushed about Bella in her speech. “Then, of course, Bella Ramsey. I want to thank you so much for coming today,” she said. “A complete stranger. You are definitely a sport. I asked you up here for entirely selfish reasons.”
“I am here to embarrass you, grandma-style. Are you ready? You are an amazing, exciting talent, so true, so strong, clear in your work on The Last of Us. I, for one, want you to know that I have your back in this industry. I want you to go out there and be you in grace and freedom. Go, go, go. You are a new voice of a new generation of artists, and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead.”
Jodie revealed in The Guardian interview that looking at young actors like Bella who have been able to come out and feel so confident in their identity does make her feel a pang of sympathy for her younger self. The Silence Of The Lambs star came out in 2013 during her infamous Golden Globes speech.
When asked whether she could have worn a suit like Bella as a young actor, Jodie responded saying: “No. Because we weren’t free. Because we didn’t have freedom.”
“I did the best I could for my generation. I was very busy understanding where I fitted in and where I wanted to be in terms of feminism. But my lens wasn’t wide enough. I lived in an incredibly segregated world.”
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