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Bella Ramsey has spoken about how their early entry into acting left little room for a typical rebellious teenage phase. Speaking to BBC News, the 22-year-old performer, who uses they and them pronouns, explained that they had consciously decided against moody behavior after hearing criticisms of teenagers from adults around them. “I was like, I’m not going to be that,” Ramsey said. The filming of Sunny Dancer provided an opportunity to embrace that freedom later, which Ramsey described as brilliant and liberating.
The coming-of-age comedy follows Ivy, a young cancer survivor in remission who attends a summer camp for those affected by the illness and forms an unexpected group of friends. According to director George Jaques in the same BBC interview, the project drew from his personal experience of his mother’s cancer diagnosis when he was 15 but was shaped by conversations with young survivors through the Teenage Cancer Trust. Jaques waited eight years before feeling ready to write about those events. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2026 and features supporting performances from Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Gunning and James Norton.
Ramsey first appeared on screen at age 11 as Lyanna Mormont in HBO’s Game of Thrones, a role that spanned nine episodes from 2016 to 2019. Britannica notes that the character’s assertive leadership of a noble house made her a standout fan favorite among viewers. The early immersion in professional sets with adult colleagues meant Ramsey bypassed many conventional adolescent experiences. A Hollywood Reporter profile on the Sunny Dancer production quoted Ramsey as saying it became “a real personal journey of me experiencing teenage years I never got to experience because I was working since I was 11.”
The performer later took on the role of Ellie in HBO’s The Last of Us, earning nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics’ Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award, according to industry compilations on Wikipedia. Critics at The Guardian praised the authenticity Ramsey brought to the traumatized yet resilient survivor in the post-apocalyptic series. Following those major productions, Ramsey has shifted focus toward independent films such as Sunny Dancer.
Reviews of Sunny Dancer have singled out Ramsey’s lead performance for its balance of humor and emotional depth. The Times called it a standout turn as a leukaemia survivor seeking to rebuild her life in the inspirational dramedy. Additional assessments from FirstShowing.net and Loud and Clear Reviews highlighted how Ramsey captured the character’s rebellious attitude and complex feelings with precision. British Vogue quoted Jaques as saying the scale of the project was massive for a British indie film.
Jaques incorporated direct feedback from cancer survivors who advised against terms such as “brave” or referring to them as kids. He recalled an emotional moment at the Berlin premiere when he saw his mother in the audience and reflected on alternate outcomes. The film also touches on societal approaches to grief, pointing out that UK law provides no general right to paid bereavement leave aside from specific parental cases after the death of a child under 18.
Ramsey offered direct advice drawn from the experience of making the film. “Don’t try and fit in,” the actor said. “Please don’t change to try and fit in because there are people who will fit in with you.” Jaques added that excessive pressure on young people through social media should be examined at a societal level rather than placing the full burden on youth to build resilience. The production included a musical cameo from James Blunt and mixed comedy with moments that reviewers said would linger after the credits.
