Emmy Awards criticised for nominating Bella Ramsey for Best Actress

14 July, 2023

Bella Ramsey

The Emmy Awards have been criticised after nominating Bella Ramsey for Best Actress at this year’s awards.

The star of The Last Of Us is non-binary, and has recently shared their hope for gender-neutral categories at award ceremonies.

The 19-year-old has been nominated for the award alongside alongside Sarah Snook (Succession), Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) and Keri Russell (The Diplomat) at the 2023 Emmys, and many have shared their dislike of the choice, owing to Ramsey’s gender-fluid identity, which they revealed earlier this year.

“‘best actress’ for an openly nonbinary person who wore a binder the entire filming hahahahaha sick,” one wrote on social media.

Another added: “Award shows need more inclusive categories for people with gender-expansive identities.”

In an interview after the nomination was announced, The Last Of Us creator Craig Mazin said that he had spoken with Ramsey about the situation, and that it’s “a really interesting challenge” in the film industry.

He told Variety: “On the one hand, the conversation about gender has transformed dramatically and in a very progressive and positive way.

“On the other, we have to practically make sure that by moving away from gendered categories, we don’t short-change traditionally overlooked folks… and we know that in non-gendered categories like directing and writing, women have been historically under-appreciated.”

Earlier this year, Ramsey called for “more space” for non-binary actors at awards shows. Speaking to Vanity Fair in a new interview, Ramsey discussed their “uncomfortable” experience submitting themselves for the 2023 Emmy Awards and how more needs to be done to make non-binary actors feel welcome and represented.

“The categories at the moment feel extremely gendered with the language around them,” they said, going on to reveal that they ended up submitting themselves for an actress category despite not identifying with the term.

“I don’t want the limitations in terms of the language in the categories to be a reason that non-binary actors like me can’t be celebrated,” Ramsey added.

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