Bella Ramsey has only been in the industry for a few short years, but she's already appeared in a number of high-profile fantasy series such as Game of Thrones and His Dark Materials. Now, though, she has cast her eye on historical fiction and taken the tragic yet fascinating role of Jane Grey in STARZ's Becoming Elizabeth.
Becoming Elizabeth, which has two episodes left in its impressive first season, is a deep dive into Queen Elizabeth I's adolescence and the formative events that made her into the infamous Virgin Queen. Beginning with her father's death and brother Edward's turbulent rule at too young an age, the series has since taken viewers through the princess' alleged affair with Thomas Seymour and the grooming she suffered at his hands. All the while, it has planted the seeds of discord between not only herself and her sister Mary, who would succeed to the throne before her, but also Jane Grey, who was thought by some to have a better claim to it.
Screen Rant spoke to Ramsey about the research that went into a period piece such as Becoming Elizabeth, Jane Grey's complicated feelings about the boys at court, and her excitement for the upcoming adaptation of The Last of Us.
Screen Rant: Jane is such a fascinating character. What was your preparation for stepping into that role? I know that creator Anya Reiss said that she had actually read through letters to make sure she had a feel for the dialogue. Did you do anything similar?
Bella Ramsey: The scripts were, like you said, so well-researched and so brilliant. There was almost no need to really find out any more, because it was there in script.
But I think we all did, just out of curiosity, find out more about the world that we were about to be immersed in for the next several months. I was learning more about Jane Grey, basically how she's related to the throne and how all of her time in court came about. I knew quite a lot about her anyway, just from growing up locally, and I actually did my audition at the remains of her residence. She's very much a local, well-known figure.
It's been amazing to watch the dynamic between Jane and Elizabeth onscreen, which is obviously contentious because of your proximity to the throne. Can you talk about how they affect each other in their time together, and what that dynamic might look like by the end of the season?
Bella Ramsey: Definitely. I think Elizabeth is slightly wary of Jane when she first arrives, mainly because Jane just makes a terrible first impression in the way that she handles that initial conversation with Elizabeth. But I think Elizabeth just kind of finds her annoying. To be fair, she's an annoying person to have around. Jane's very intelligent and isn't afraid to show it. I don't think she's a showoff; she's just very aware of her intellectual intelligence, but she lacks emotional intelligence.
And I think Jane is also aware of the plots and the schemes involving her, in terms of the idea that she's going to marry the King and keep the Protestant faith and all of that. I don't think Jane particularly sees Elizabeth as a threat to her position. Just like in that first conversation, she is very blunt. This is what she's been told that; that Elizabeth is illegitimate because of her mother. She takes it as fact, so I don't think Jane is particularly worried about that.
They just have this interesting dynamic, because they're of a similar age. They're both young girls finding their place in the court and finding out who they are at the same time, which is so weird.
We've got possible machinations with Jane and Edward at the start, but then also Jane and the Dudleys - and we know you marry Lord Guildford Dudley. Can you talk about those different dynamics and how Jane may feel about each?
Bella Ramsey: I think she's interested in the Dudleys, just seeing these two young people similar to her age around court. And she's aware that marriage is something that she will have to do; I don't think she's particularly opposed to it or particularly rebellious. I think she very much knows that this is what is expected of her, and she's very happy to do it. It's something that she actually wants to do and will willingly participate in.
She finds the Dudleys interesting, but obviously the King is a great prospect. Marriage to a king is the dream in that time, but I just don't think they are particularly compatible. The King doesn't want to marry Jane; Jane doesn't particularly want to marry Edward. But love is brewing in Jane's heart for the Dudley boys, or at least something that she perceives as love. It's her only idea of what a crush might be, but she very much sees people as prospects.
The last that we saw of Jane, Catherine had just died, and she'd been removed from Thomas' quote-unquote care. How have these events affected her, and what can we expect from her in the final episodes of the season?
Bella Ramsey: I think she appears to be very resigned to her fate, knowing this plan to marry the King. But I do think there's a buried part of her that is upset that she doesn't have the future that she thought she might have. She really liked staying with Thomas and Catherine, because I don't think her home life is particularly good. It was like this really exciting holiday for her. Now that's all gone, and she's back at her home.
But she does come back. She makes another appearance at court, and she begins to voice her opinions.
What was your favorite aspect of filming Becoming Elizabeth?
Bella Ramsey: To be honest, I just loved the ensemble cast. We all got along so well. I've never been part of a really big ensemble, other than Game of Thrones - but obviously I was a lot younger then, and I still was very shy. I was the new kid, I suppose.
But for this one, it definitely felt like we were all coming in as equals for season 1. None of us knew each other to start with, and there were no pre-formed friendships. It was very much everyone coming in and having the best time on the show together. Working with such a great cast and such a great team really made it a joy every day.
Speaking of Game of Thrones, we have something of a reunion between you and Pedro Pascal - not that you ever interacted onscreen - in The Last of Us. What can you tell me about that experience and working with him?
Bella Ramsey: It was such a cool experience. It was the longest show I've ever been on. It was 11 months shooting for me, and the rest of the team were there for over a year, I think. I feel like when you're with a group of people for that long, the connections that you formulate and the friendships are so solid and special. It was really hard to say goodbye to everybody at the end. It was such a good experience.
Obviously, it's a video game adaptations. The story is pre-loved, so trying to make it familiar to fans of the game, but also authentic to us without being a replica of the game was kind of our task. We were definitely in that together.
And working with Pedro was so fun. He's hilarious. He's probably one of the funniest people I've ever met. He's also incredibly generous. That's the word that comes to mind when I think of Pedro. He's so generous with his words, with his time, and with his actions. He's just a super cool person to be around, and he definitely made set a fun place to be. We had a lot of great conversations.
We know the tragic end that Jane will eventually face if we get there, but are there any stops along the way that you hope to hit with her?
Bella Ramsey: Oh, that's a good question. Obviously, she gets married, so that was an interesting thing to explore. How much of that is duty, and how much of it does she actually enjoy? How much does she wants to get married and how much does she feel like she has to? so I think that'd be really interesting thing to explore in her relationship with Guilford Dudley. How it comes about and how she feels about that.
And just her growing up into a young woman, I suppose. I think it's gonna be really cool to explore how much she is involved in the plots and the schemes that eventually lead to her demise.
Becoming Elizabeth Synopsis
Elizabeth Tudor, an orphaned teenager who becomes embroiled in the political and sexual politics of the English court on her journey to secure the crown.
Becoming Elizabeth airs new episodes Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on Starz.