Ella Purnell: Giving Voice to Arcane and Body to Fallout

written by Nartana Nólë
on 9.16.24 in 💫 Talent Spotlight

The Curious Case of the London Lass: An Exhaustive Chronicle of Ella Purnell

In Which a Child is Born and Promptly Sent to Stage School

On the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, the city of London was forever altered, not by a Great Fire or a particularly aggressive pigeon but by the arrival of one Ella Summer Purnell. Raised in the borough of Tower Hamlets, young Ella possessed eyes that were, quite frankly, of a scale usually reserved for animated deer or high-end maritime telescopes. Recognizing that such expressive features were far too potent for a standard desk job, she was swiftly enrolled at the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

While other children were busy mastering the art of the sticky finger or the recreational shin-kick, Purnell was honing her craft. She spent her formative years learning how to stand precisely where a director told her to while pretending to be someone else entirely, a skill that is surprisingly lucrative if one does it with enough conviction. By 2008, she beat out hundreds of other hopeful youngsters for a role in Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It was here that she learned the vital theatrical lesson that being “orphaned” on stage involves a great deal of choreographed soot.

Early Cinematic Forays and the Art of Looking Like Someone Else

In 2010, the silver screen beckoned. Purnell landed the role of Young Ruth in the hauntingly bleak Never Let Me Go. It was a masterclass in melancholy , based on the Kazuo Ishiguro novel, where she played the younger version of Keira Knightley. This set a peculiar precedent in her early career: Ella Purnell became the industry standard for “Younger Version of an A-List Actress.” If a script required a protagonist to have a flashback, and that protagonist was exceptionally cheek-boned, Purnell was the woman for the job.

She continued this trend of temporal displacement in Maleficent (2014), where she portrayed the teenage version of Angelina Jolie ’s titular fairy. To play the younger self of a global icon requires a certain audacity, or at least a very good wig. Purnell navigated the moors of Disney’s live-action reimagining with a grace that suggested she might actually possess wings, or at least a very sturdy harness.

Peculiar Children and the Rise of the Leading Lady

The year 2016 saw Purnell transition from the “younger version” to a “current version” in Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Playing Emma Bloom, a girl who is lighter than air and must wear lead shoes to avoid floating off into the stratosphere, Purnell proved she could carry a blockbuster. It was a role that required her to be literally anchored to the ground, a metaphor, perhaps, for the dizzying heights her career was reaching. Working with Burton , a man whose hair defies the laws of physics as much as his films, Purnell solidified her status as a darling of the macabre and the whimsical.

Following her stint as a human balloon, she appeared in Churchill (2017) as Helen Garrett, secretary to the eponymous Prime Minister. Moving from supernatural levitation to the high-stakes logistics of the D-Day landings is a pivot few can manage without a severe case of whiplash. She then starred in the independent feature WildLike, delivering a performance as a troubled teen in the Alaskan wilderness that garnered critical acclaim and a suitcase full of film festival awards. It turns out that looking pensive against a backdrop of glaciers is a highly effective way to win over the critics.

The Small Screen, Big Zombies, and Animated Chaos

As the 2020s approached, Purnell decided that the cinema was simply not enough space to contain her ocular magnitude. She ventured into the realm of prestige television with Sweetbitter, a Starz series based on Stephanie Danler’s novel. As Tess, a naive newcomer to the New York City restaurant scene, she navigated the treacherous waters of wine pairings and waitstaff drama. The show offered a sensory exploration of the hospitality industry, though sadly, most viewers couldn’t actually smell the truffles.

In 2021, Purnell entered the “Zodiac of the Dead” era by starring in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. As Kate Ward, she spent a significant amount of time traversing a quarantined Las Vegas filled with intelligent zombies and a skeletal tiger. It was a gritty, gore-splattered affair that proved Purnell could handle a firearm just as well as she could handle a corset or a dinner tray.

However, it was her vocal cords that took center stage in the same year. Purnell voiced Jinx in the Netflix sensation Arcane , a series based on the League of Legends universe. Her portrayal of the chaotic, blue-haired anarchist was widely praised for its emotional depth and manic energy . Simultaneously, she voiced Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy, proving that whether she is in a post-apocalyptic desert or the final frontier, she remains remarkably employable.

Yellowjackets and the Fallout of Success

Just when audiences thought she couldn’t possibly endure any more trauma for their entertainment, Purnell joined the cast of Yellowjackets as Jackie, the popular, ill-fated captain of a high school soccer team. The show, which follows a group of girls stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash, became a cultural phenomenon. Jackie’s arc, moving from the pinnacle of teenage social hierarchy to a very permanent state of popsicle-hood, was the heart of the first season. It cemented Purnell’s reputation for playing characters who are simultaneously fragile and fiercely memorable.

In 2024, she stepped into the wasteland once more for the Amazon Prime Video series Fallout. As Lucy MacLean, a Vault Dweller venturing into the irradiated ruins of Los Angeles , Purnell brought a “can-do” attitude to the literal end of the world. Her performance as the naive but capable Lucy earned rave reviews, as she navigated a world of mutated ghouls, power armor, and the occasional dismemberment with a polite smile and a massive handgun.

The Purnell Pedigree: A Summary of Sorts

To look upon the filmography of Ella Purnell is to witness a woman who has been consistently chased by monsters, burdened by tragic pasts, or forced to survive in the woods. From the stage in London to the scorched earth of the Mojave, her career has been a series of increasingly elaborate adventures. She has successfully transitioned from a child actor to a powerhouse of modern television and film, all while maintaining a level of poise that would make a Victorian governess weep with envy.

A Selected Chronology of Notable Works

Never Let Me Go (2010) – Young Ruth
Ways to Live Forever (2010) – Kayleigh
Intruders (2011) – Mia
Kick-Ass 2 (2013) – Dolce
Maleficent (2014) – Teen Maleficent
WildLike (2014) – Mackenzie
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) – Emma Bloom
Churchill (2017) – Helen Garrett
Ordeal by Innocence (2018) – Hester Argyll
Sweetbitter (2018–2019) – Tess
Belgravia (2020) – Lady Maria Grey
Army of the Dead (2021) – Kate Ward
Arcane (2021–Present) – Jinx (Voice)
Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–Present) – Gwyndala (Voice)
Yellowjackets (2021–2023) – Jackie Taylor
Fallout (2024–Present) – Lucy MacLean
Sweetpea (2024) – Rhiannon Lewis

The Future and Other Unknowable Variables

What lies ahead for Miss Purnell? One can only assume more elaborate costumes and increasingly improbable survival scenarios. She has recently taken on the role of Rhiannon Lewis in the series Sweetpea, a dark comedy that allows her to lean into her penchant for the “slightly unhinged.” As she continues to dominate both live-action and animation, it is clear that the industry has no intention of letting her go, and why would they? In a world of carbon-copy starlets, Ella Purnell remains a delightfully peculiar original.

So, let us tip our hats (the lead-lined ones, preferably) to the girl from Tower Hamlets. She has survived the Blitz (on film), the apocalypse (twice), and high school social dynamics (the most dangerous of all). Whether she is floating through the air or wandering a radioactive desert, one thing is certain: those eyes have seen things we wouldn’t believe, and she’s probably going to win an award for looking at them.

And so, we leave our intrepid heroine as we found her: remarkably talented, exceptionally busy, and presumably in need of a very long nap after all that running away from zombies. One can only hope her next role involves a nice sit-down and a cup of tea, though knowing her trajectory, the tea will likely be poisoned and the chair will be situated on a ticking time bomb. Such is the price of stardom, and such is the glorious, chaotic career of Ella Purnell.

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