# Ella Purnell
**Ella Summer Reed Purnell** (born 1996, London) is a British actress whose career runs from West End musical theater and child film roles to leading roles in the television series Yellowjackets, [Fallout](https://www.edgepedia.org/fallout-2024-tv-series), and Sweetpea, and voice roles as Jinx in Arcane and Gwyndala in [Star Trek: Prodigy](https://www.edgepedia.org/star-trek-prodigy).[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2012107576.html) • [2](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1996, London, England; occupation recorded as actress[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2012107576.html) |
| Early career | West End debut in Oliver! in 2008; first film role at 13 as the young Keira Knightley in Never Let Me Go (2010)[3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) • [4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) |
| Breakthrough TV | Jackie in Yellowjackets (2021), Lucy MacLean in Fallout (2024), Rhiannon in Sweetpea (2024)[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea) • [6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/05/arts/television/ella-purnell-sweetpea.html) |
| Voice roles | Jinx in Arcane (2021–2024) and Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–2024)[2](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell) |
| Fallout viewership | 65 million viewers in its first two weeks of release per Forbes, or first 16 days per The Guardian[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea) |
| Award | Madame Figaro Rising Star Award at the 2024 Canneseries Festival[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true) |
| Producing | First executive-producer role on Sweetpea (Sky Atlantic, 2024)[3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) |
## Early life and training
Purnell was born in London in 1996.[1](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2012107576.html) Her entry into performance came through formal training: at age nine she began taking classes at the [Sylvia Young Theatre School](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvia-young-theatre-school) in London.[8](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/ella-purnell)
Her stage debut came in a West End production of the musical Oliver! at London's Theatre Royal, where she spent a year in the cast after being selected from hundreds of other hopefuls.[9](https://www.agathachristie.com/film-and-tv/ordeal-by-innocence/meet-the-cast/ella-purnell) • [3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) Sources differ on her age at the time: Interview Magazine quotes her as saying she was 11,[8](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/ella-purnell) while Variety dates the start of her career to 2008, when she was 12.[3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) Both accounts agree on the production, the venue, and the competitive selection.
## Child and teenage screen roles
Purnell's first film role, at 13, was playing the young [Keira Knightley](https://www.edgepedia.org/keira-knightley) in the science-fiction drama [Never Let Me Go](https://www.edgepedia.org/never-let-me-go-2010-film) (2010).[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) That same year, Screen International named her one of its 10 UK Stars of Tomorrow.[10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ella-purnell/bio/3030712932/) She followed with the horror film Intruders (2011) and Disney's Maleficent (2014), and gained wider recognition as a child performer in [Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children](https://www.edgepedia.org/miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children) (2016).[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) • [2](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell)
## Transition to adult television
Purnell's television credits through her early twenties included [Sweetbitter](https://www.edgepedia.org/sweetbitter) and [Belgravia](https://www.edgepedia.org/belgravia) (2020).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true) • [2](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell) The turn in her trajectory came in 2021 with Showtime's Yellowjackets, in which she played Jackie, the prom queen captain of a New Jersey high school soccer team left stranded after a plane crash; the Los Angeles Times summarizes the character as queen bee and eventually cannibalized corpse.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-10-25/ella-purnell-sweetpea)
She has described the shift as a deliberate one. "I've fallen in and out of love with my job a thousand times," she told Forbes. "It wasn't really until my early twenties that I redefined my profession and decided to do it on my own terms."[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/)
## Voice acting: Arcane and Star Trek: Prodigy
From 2021 to 2024 Purnell voiced two series leads: Jinx in the animated series Arcane and the teenage alien Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy.[2](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell) • [3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) Arcane, listed among her television credits alongside her live-action work, gave her a role in one of Netflix's animated series during the same years she was appearing in Yellowjackets.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true)
## Fallout and television prominence
In 2024 Purnell starred as Lucy MacLean in Prime Video's post-apocalyptic series Fallout, which her representation describes as the platform's highest-rated show.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true) The series drew 65 million viewers early in its April 2024 release, though the measurement window differs by source: Forbes says the first two weeks,[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) and The Guardian says the first 16 days.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea) The same Guardian report credits the series with helping her accumulate 1.4 million Instagram followers.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea) At the 2024 Canneseries Festival she received the Madame Figaro Rising Star Award for her career to date.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true)
The New York Times characterizes her signature live-action roles as a high-school princess on Yellowjackets and a sheltered innocent on Fallout, with Sweetpea trading their perkiness for pent-up rage.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/05/arts/television/ella-purnell-sweetpea.html) Her Fallout character was initially pitched to her as "Ned Flanders meets Lesley Knope in the apocalypse."[3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/)
## Sweetpea and producing
Sweetpea ([Sky Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/sky-atlantic), 2024) marked a first: it is the first series on which Purnell served as executive producer.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-10-25/ella-purnell-sweetpea) She plays Rhiannon in a thriller The Guardian describes as viscerally disturbing action; Sky's own billing for the series notes that it is always the quiet ones you have to look out for.[12](https://www.sky.com/watch/sweetpea/ella-purnell-interview) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea)
Her producing involvement began a full year before the shoot, with a place in the writers' room and a say in hair and makeup, costumes, and set design, and she worked with director Ella Jones.[3](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/) • [12](https://www.sky.com/watch/sweetpea/ella-purnell-interview) She has stated ambitions to write and direct.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-10-25/ella-purnell-sweetpea)
## By the numbers
- Fallout: 65 million viewers in its first two weeks (Forbes) or first 16 days (The Guardian) of release in April 2024.[4](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea)
- Instagram following: 1.4 million, per The Guardian in October 2024.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea)
- Awards: Madame Figaro Rising Star Award, Canneseries 2024; nomination for best actress at the Hill Country Film Festival, 2015.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ella-purnell/bio/3030712932/)
- Industry listing: Screen International's 10 UK Stars of Tomorrow, 2010.[10](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ella-purnell/bio/3030712932/)
## References
1. [Purnell, Ella, 1996- (Library of Congress authority record)](https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2012107576.html)
2. [Ella Purnell — The Movie Database (TMDB)](https://www.themoviedb.org/person/989325-ella-purnell)
3. [Ella Purnell on Producing Dark Comedy 'Sweetpea', Fallout Season 2 — Variety](https://variety.com/2024/tv/global/ella-purnell-sweetpea-producer-fallout-interview-1236166609/)
4. [Ella Purnell — Forbes profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/ella-purnell/)
5. ['I can't do gore and I'm not a gamer': Ella Purnell on being an unlikely scream queen — The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/05/ella-purnell-interview-sweetpea)
6. [Ella Purnell Is a TV Star Who Hasn't Lost Touch With Her Barista Roots — The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/05/arts/television/ella-purnell-sweetpea.html)
7. [Ella Purnell — IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3480246/?showAllCredits=true)
8. [Ella Purnell — Interview Magazine](https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/ella-purnell)
9. [Ella Purnell — Agatha Christie official site](https://www.agathachristie.com/film-and-tv/ordeal-by-innocence/meet-the-cast/ella-purnell)
10. [Ella Purnell Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards — TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/ella-purnell/bio/3030712932/)
11. [Ella Purnell on filming bloody scenes in 'Sweetpea' — Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2024-10-25/ella-purnell-sweetpea)
12. [Sweetpea: Ella Purnell Interview — Sky Atlantic](https://www.sky.com/watch/sweetpea/ella-purnell-interview)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames N to P*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license