No Labels, No Limits: Noah Lamanna’s Rising Star Power

Tune into some of the most talked-about shows in recent memory, and you’re likely to see Noah Lamanna on the screen.

“It’s very cool to be invited into franchises that have so much cultural currency,” Lamanna says about HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia.”

“I’m forever grateful to [‘The Last of Us’ creator and executive producer] Craig Mazin for casting me in a role that involved riding horses in the beautiful Rocky Mountains,” Lamanna continues. “‘Ginny & Georgia’ welcomed me into season three with open arms and offered me a really fun arc that I’m excited for fans to finally get to see. It’s been fun to have these two projects coming out around the same time and to feel the excitement and anticipation from the audiences.”

The nonbinary actor has previously described themself as being “ethnically ambiguous, age-ambiguous and also gender-ambiguous.” This gives them the fluidity and space to explore a variety of characters and worlds without being typecast.

For these most recent projects, Lamanna considers their characters to be “young queer people doing their best to honor themselves in difficult situations.”

Kat is trying to build a life in a small town where everyone knows each other’s business, and where insidious homophobia has managed to survive the apocalypse in “The Last of Us.” And Tris is navigating the less extreme, but still fraught reality of American high school in “Ginny & Georgia.”

“Both of these characters are really strong in their own ways,” Lamanna says, “and playing them gave me access to aspects of my own strength that I’m not always necessarily tapped into. I hope that comes through for audiences.”

“The Last of Us” has a swath of queer fans. Aside from the eye candy of Pedro Pascal, often dubbed “the internet’s daddy,” Lamanna thinks a lot of it has to do with the fact that post-apocalyptic shows can be cathartic in a way.

“There is so much going on right now that feels out of our control — the climate crisis and international issues come top of mind,” they say. “We can protest and boycott and organize (and we should), but fighting for each other’s futures is an uphill battle that is often very disheartening and can leave us feeling overwhelmed and afraid. This is why humans fundamentally need to tell stories to survive.”

Lamanna says “The Last of Us” allows people to work through a version of the apocalypse in which people continue to be deeply flawed in their pursuit of survival.

“I think that allows us to have grace with ourselves,” they continue. “We’re not always going to get it right, and people will get hurt in the process of figuring out a way forward. But if we’re not willing to fight for each other, we’re doomed. I also think it’s really important to see queer and trans people thriving in narratives about the future. Survival, resistance and community are all core to queer identity. Not only are we not going away, but the world is going to need us.”

That theme continues into Lamanna’s upcoming short film, which they describe as “a dark comedy about the absurdity of being a working artist under late-stage capitalism, and how we perpetually find ourselves complicit in the same systems that we use our art to condemn.”

“It’s very silly and colorful and outrageous, and I’m excited to bring it to life,” Lamanna says. “It’s still in the early stages of pre-production, and I’m learning how much work goes on behind the scenes to actually get a film off the ground.”

After that, the future is wide open. Lamanna just wants to enjoy the ride for a while, but hopes to continue joining projects with themes they connect to.

“I hope that with a growing platform I can have a hand in uplifting artists whose work I believe in and who I think have important things to say,” Lamanna shares. “I want to work in cool places with cool people and continue to learn and hone my skills as an artist. And I want to use my own creative voice to tell stories that matter to me.”