- Title: Bella Ramsey unexpectedly enjoyed making Berlinale coming-of-age cancer comedy
- Date: 13th February 2026
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 13, 2026) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, BELLA RAMSEY,SAYING: "There are no hospital scenes in this. No, not a single one. There's, like, not very much medical talk. It's really bringing the humanity, I think, back to a very human experience of like, experiencing an illness such as cancer. Like, it's so, I think it can often be like over m
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Bella Ramsey Berlin film festival Berlinale George Jaques Neil Patrick Harris Sunny Dancer Sunny Dancer film Sunny Dancer premiere
- Location: BERLIN, GERMANY AND VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: BERLIN, GERMANY AND VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA003536113022026RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Making "Sunny Dancer," a film about a summer camp for teenagers with cancer, turned out to be nothing like Bella Ramsey expected, and in the best possible way, the "Game of Thrones" star told Reuters ahead of its Berlin Film Festival premiere on Friday (February 13).
"When the email first came through about it, I was like, 'I don't think I'm going to like this,'" said the 22-year-old "Game of Thrones" star. "And it just was perfect, it just was completely not what I thought it was going to be, in the best way."
Ramsey plays Ivy, a 17-year-old cancer survivor who wants nothing to do with the camp her parents have signed her up for.
But the teens she meets there are far from the fragile group she imagined - they sneak alcohol, fight, flirt and generally cause trouble - and Ivy quickly sheds her reservations.
"Sunny Dancer," which also stars Neil Patrick Harris, James Norton and Jessica Gunning, opens the festival's Generation 14plus sidebar for young adult cinema.
"There are no hospital scenes in this. No, not a single one," said Ramsey, who also starred in "The Last of Us."
After doing the necessary sensitivity work early on, writer‑director George Jaques "freed" the cast to focus on fun, recalled the actor.
For his second feature, Jaques knew he wanted to make a cancer film, but as more of a comedy or coming-of-age film.
He drew on his experiences watching his mother fight cancer when he was a teen, and later working with a British charity for teenage cancer patients.
"You realize how naughty they are and how fun they are and how they get chemo done in Ed Hardy jeans and Jordans," said Jaques.
He added that he wanted to break the stereotype that they're only "bored sickly kids that lie on hospital beds."
"They're full of life," he said. "And they're so much more interesting than their diagnosis."
(Production: Martin Schlicht, Maximilian Schwarz, Hanna Rantala, Miranda Murray) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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