Ella Purnell

Early life

Ella Summer Purnell was born in the Whitechapel area of London on 17 September 1996, and grew up in the city's Bethnal Green area. She attended Bethnal Green Montessori, Forest School, the City of London School for Girls and the Young Actors Theatre Islington. She attended weekly drama classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

At the age of 18, Purnell intended to put a pause on her acting career, and earn a place at university with the intention of becoming a children's writer or teacher. She decided to travel the world for a year to "find herself" but returned to acting when she was offered a role in Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), which she accepted as it had been her dream to work with Burton. She described her decision to defer university as "bittersweet at first because it felt like a lost opportunity of a different path in life" but was glad she chose acting.

Career

At age 8, Purnell starred in a Croatian commercial for Toffifee. At age 13, she was cast in a 2009 production of Oliver! at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Towards the end of her time in the show, she was cast as the younger version of Keira Knightley's character in Mark Romanek's film Never Let Me Go (2010). She was then cast as Kayleigh in Gustavo Ron's film Ways to Live Forever (2010) and as Mia in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's film Intruders (2011). She was named by Screen International as one of its 10 UK Stars of Tomorrow in 2010. She later appeared in the BBC HD short film Candy (2011).

Purnell appeared as Dolce in Jeff Wadlow's film Kick-Ass 2 (2013) and starred in Frank Hall Green's film Wildlike (2014), which earned her a number of accolades at festivals. She also played the teenage version of Angelina Jolie's titular character in Robert Stromberg's Disney film Maleficent (2014). She then took a break from acting, but returned to star in Tim Burton's film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) as she had always wanted to work with him. She then played Mia in the film Access All Areas (2017) and Winston Churchill's secretary Helen Garrett in Jonathan Teplitzky's historical drama film Churchill (2017).

Purnell appeared as Hester Argyll in the BBC miniseries Ordeal by Innocence (2018) and starred as Tess in the Starz series Sweetbitter (2018). Starz cancelled the series after two seasons. Purnell played Lady Maria Grey in Julian Fellowes' period drama Belgravia (2020) and began starring as Jackie Taylor in the Showtime drama series Yellowjackets (2021present). She also voiced Gwyn in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy (2021) and voiced Jinx in the Netflix series Arcane (20212024). She began starring as Lucy MacLean in the Amazon Prime Video series Fallout (2024present) and as the main character in the dark comedy series Sweetpea (2024present), garnering critical praise for both. She also served as an executive producer for Sweetpea.

Personal life

, Purnell divides her time between London and Los Angeles. She had a relationship with Max Bennett Kelly that was confirmed in June 2022. Discussing her views on fame with British Vogue, Purnell shared: "There's no end goal for me that revolves around success. It revolves around my personal growth and personal challenges."

She plays the piano and also enjoys scuba diving.

Advocacy

In 2016, Purnell worked with her former Forest School schoolmate Arifa Nasim to launch Educate2Eradicate, a UK-based organisation building on Nasim's grassroots efforts to eradicate honour-based violence and addressing the issue of forced child-marriage.

In 2019, Purnell commented on the importance of diversity in Hollywood and wanting to use her platform to raise awareness: "I am no longer willing to be complicit in this industry. Don’t get me wrong; I love acting, I grew up in this world. I’m very grateful. But I’m also very aware of how damaging it can be in its lack of diversity and representation. I want to be more conscious with who I work with, and what I work on. I want to use any platform I have to bring awareness to issues that matter. I want to help people and be a part of positive change."

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. Lammers, Tim. (2024-04-11). "'Fallout': Why Does Vault Dweller Lucy MacLean Look So Familiar?". [[Forbes]].
2. Nugent, Annabel. (23 April 2022). "Yellowjackets' Ella Purnell". [[The Independent]].
3. (8 April 2017). "Asa Butterfield and Ella Purnell Interview at Young Actors Theatre Islington – YouTube".
4. Dunn, Francesca. "Ella Purnell is mini maleficent".
5. Aroesti, Rachel. (5 October 2024). "'I can't do gore and I'm not a gamer': Ella Purnell on being an unlikely scream queen". The Guardian.
6. Hadland, Gracie. (22 May 2024). "Ella Purnell Is Hollywood's New Favorite Action Hero". Vulture.
7. Brigljević, Iva Mila. (16 October 2024). "Glumica koju su povezivali s Brad Pittom pojavila se u reklami na hrvatskom jeziku".
8. (6 July 2010). "Ella Purnell | Screen". Screendaily.com.
9. (16 June 2010). "First trailer for 'Never Let Me Go' with Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan". Moviejungle.com.
10. (23 December 2009). "Ways to live forever – The Movie". Waystoliveforever.com.
11. Cooper, Sarah. (14 July 2010). "Fersnadillo starts shooting thriller Intruders in London". Screendaily.com.
12. "Stars of Tomorrow 2010". Screenterrier.blogspot.com.
13. "Two teenage British stars are set to join Eva Green".
14. Clarke, Cath. (19 October 2017). "Access All Areas review – Hollyoaks goes Bestival in a teen music festival caper".
15. (24 May 2016). "'Churchill' shoot begins; cast revealed". Screen.
16. Billen, Andrew. (31 March 2018). "Ordeal by Innocence: the Christie Mystery that almost got away". The Times.
17. Petski, Denise. (6 October 2017). "'Sweetbitter': Ella Purnell To Star In Starz Drama Series Based On Book".
18. (3 May 2018). "Ella Purnell on the Starz Series 'Sweetbitter' and Her Disastrous Audition". Collider.
19. (20 December 2019). "'Sweetbitter' Canceled at Starz (Exclusive)".
20. Bahr, Robyn. (10 April 2020). "'Belgravia': TV Review".
21. Haylock, Zoe. (17 January 2022). "Ella Purnell on Surviving Yellowjackets as 'Queen Bee' Jackie".
22. Davis, Clayton. (10 April 2024). "'Fallout' Sets Emmys Campaign: Walton Goggins and Ella Purnell Go for Lead Drama, Aaron Moten Submits for Supporting (Exclusive)". Variety.
23. (2024-10-08). "Ella Purnell Isn't Interested in the Fast Track to Fame". Condé Nast.
24. {{cite rt
25. "Sweetpea".
26. White, Peter. (11 July 2024). "Sky's Ella Purnell-Led Drama Series ''Sweetpea'' Lands At Starz".
27. Hadland, Gracie. (2024-05-22). "Ella Purnell Is Hollywood's New Favorite Action Hero".
28. Rivera, Briannah. (2024-04-11). "All About 'Fallout' Star Ella Purnell's Musician Boyfriend, Max Bennett Kelly".
29. Jackson, Hannah. (2024-10-09). "'Sweetpea' Star Ella Purnell Isn't Interested In The Fast Track To Fame".
30. (2018-03-21). "Interview with Ella Purnell". [[BBC]] Media Centre.
31. Babb, Francesca. (2018-08-14). "Ella Purnell on hotels, holidays and horoscopes".
32. (2016-07-18). "Charity to tackle forced marriage and honour abuse officially launched". [[Waltham Forest Guardian]].
33. (2016-01-16). "Ella Purnell {{!}} Host of January 16, 2016 Event".
34. (23 July 2019). "From Ella With Love". SBJCT Journal.
35. Seth, Radhika. (2021-05-21). "Ella Purnell nous parle de "Army of the Dead", le film de zombies de Netflix".
36. Dalton, Ben. (15 May 2024). "'Fallout' star Ella Purnell joins Craig Roberts' killer squirrel comedy-horror 'The Scurry' for True Brit (exclusive)".
37. (9 December 2018). "Right Place, Wrong Tim".
38. Kroll, Justin. (2024-10-09). "'Fallout' Star Ella Purnell Signs With Range".
39. Andreeva, Nellie. (2022-03-30). "'Fallout': Ella Purnell Joins Walton Goggins In Prime Video Series Based On Games".
40. Ritman, Alex. (2024-12-03). "'Sweetpea' Starring Ella Purnell Renewed for Season 2 at Sky, Starz".
41. Ntim, Zac. (2024-12-03). "'Sweetpea': Sky & Starz Series Starring Ella Purnell Renewed For Second Season".
42. "Best Actress {{!}} Fargo Film Festival".
43. Gioino, Catherina. (2015-06-11). "2015 Brooklyn Film Festival Winners".
44. (2018-01-15). "Nominations for 2018 National Film Awards UK announced".
45. "52nd Annual Annie Awards".
46. Neglia, Matt. (2024-01-09). "The 2023 Hollywood Creative Alliance (HCA) TV Astra Award Winners".
47. "Madame Figaro Rising Star Award".
48. Prusakowski, Steven. (2024-07-09). "2024 Astra TV Awards Nominees Announced".