Bella Ramsey wants to play an “intricate” villain next

From Game of Thrones to The Last of Us, we know Bella Ramsey in mostly heroic roles, but now they’re looking to enter their villain era. In a new interview, the nonbinary star discussed wanting to play a “baddie” in the future, with their eye on filling some (literally) big shoes.

“I’ve not really played a villain yet,” Ramsey told LADbible. “So I want to play a baddie. But like a really interesting, intricate, complex baddie.”

When the outlet suggested the iconic super villain The Joker, Ramsey replied, “Yeah. I was actually thinking that as well. The Joker, someone really interesting like that.” They also mentioned that they’d be down for a Hannibal Lecter type as well.

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You know what this means—the fan campaign to get Ramsey in clown makeup for the next Batman film begins now. In the meantime, Joaquin Phoenix is set to reprise the role, alongside Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, in the upcoming film Joker: Folie à Deux.

Ramsey may get their chance to play the baddie even sooner than that. Without getting into spoilers, Ellie’s arc in The Last of Us: Part II video game (on which seasons two and three of the series adaptation will be based) heads to some pretty dark places.

Commenting on the second season, Ramsey expressed confidence that it will outdo the first, which was a massive critical and commercial hit. “I know that that’s like the big fear—that all of us working on the show, and probably the rest of the world have—is that season two isn’t gonna be as good as season one,” they said.

“But I have a lot of faith in the creators. And I think they’re spectacular. So I think, I think we’re going to do great, I think we will top it.”

More recently, Ramsey took on their “toughest role yet,” playing an incarcerated drug addict in the BBC series Time. “By far the hardest [role] in terms of like, the subject matter. And also, there were just big days on set, big, fast, long days,” they said.

Their hard work and lifelike portrayal paid off—it landed them on this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough list. ​​”It’s, it’s a big honor,” they said. “I think the word like BAFTA comes with so much prestige. Which is quite weird that I’m now associated with that. But really lovely.”