Bella Ramsey worries internet’s obsession with calling Pedro Pascal ‘daddy’ has ‘gone too far’

The actor says she ‘needs to ask’ Pascal how he feels about it now

Bella Ramsey has said they are “worried” that The Last of Us co-star Pedro Pascal may no longer enjoy being called the internet’s “daddy”.

Pascal, 48, has long been crowned the “internet daddy” by fans, embracing the sobriquet in several interviews, including during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in February.

Ramsey, 19, said that while they initially “played into” fans’ obsession with her co-star’s “daddy” reputation, they don’t know if he is “still loving it”.

The term “daddy” is often used as a term of endearment to describe a well-loved male celebrity online.

Asked what the phrase meant, Pascal told host Graham Norton: “Me!” The actor added that he had been enjoying “all the sudden attention”.

But Ramsey, who played Ellie in HBO’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic drama (available in the UK on Sky and NOW) alongside Pascal’s character Joel, told Vanity Fair they are unsure how he feels about it now.

“I very much played into it at the beginning, but now I’m worried it’s gone too far,” the actor said. “I don’t know whether he’s still loving it; I need to ask him. He’s a global phenomenon as he should be, because he’s pretty spectacular.”

In March, fans speculated that Pascal was tired of the title after he politely declined to read aloud “thirst tweets” during a red carpet interview.

A reporter from Access Hollywood asked him to read the tweets while on the red carpet for his Disney+ show The Mandalorian, but after taking a moment to read them quietly, Pascal smiled and said: “No.”

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us (HBO)

Elsewhere in their interview, Ramsey revealed they are currently taking a course in environmental science, on top of acting projects such as the forthcoming BBC series Time.

They said: “I have to support the things that resonate with me, and I wanted to learn about it properly. I’m very, very grateful and aware of the immense privilege that I have to be able to talk about things openly, and that people will listen.”

On 31 March, Ramsey wished their childhood self a happy Trans Day of Visibility and posted a photograph of themself as a child.

Ramsey came out as non-binary in January and said they don’t mind what pronouns are used for them.

“Happy TDOV to this little dude!” they wrote alongside the picture. “I didn’t know the word non-binary in this picture. But I knew what it meant. Inherently. Because I always was, and always will be. Lotsa love to all of my trans, enby and gender funky friends.”