- 2 years ago
This actress has really blown up recently. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the rising career of Ella Purnell, aka Lucy MacLean in Prime Video’s “Fallout.”
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00:00 "My name is Lucy McLean, and I'm an active contributor to the well-being of my community."
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the rising career of Ella Purnell,
00:10 aka Lucy McLean, in Prime Video's Fallout.
00:13 "Yeah, I think smiling and pretending you know what you're doing is 90% of the job done."
00:16 Early life and work
00:19 "I don't think I really knew I wanted to be an actor. It certainly wasn't,
00:22 this might sound terrible, but it wasn't a dream of mine. It was more sort of like a curiosity."
00:28 Ella Summer Purnell was born on September 17,
00:31 1996 in England's Whitechapel area. Growing up, the East Londoner was a creative kid
00:37 interested in various art forms. "You know, when you're younger, it's easier to act in a way,
00:41 because you just sort of follow your instinct. Everything's a lot more natural, but I felt like
00:45 I really, I wanted to do that training." At nine years old, she enrolled in acting,
00:49 singing, and dancing classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. She also filmed a candy commercial.
00:55 Two years later, she made her theatre debut as a chorus girl in the West End's production of Oliver.
01:00 "So what am I to do to keep the sky so blue? There must be something good in it all."
01:07 Making the leap from stage to screen, Purnell landed her first film role in 2010's Never Let
01:12 Me Go, playing the younger version of Keira Knightley's character Ruth. This gave the
01:17 budding actress a unique opportunity to learn from an industry veteran, literally following
01:22 in her footsteps. "We kind of, kind of cleared what she would be more like, so she, Keira was
01:29 helping me, saying, 'You could say this line like this,' because Ruth would be thinking this at the
01:33 time." Shortly after, Purnell also played the part of Kayleigh in Gustavo Rahn's Ways to Live Forever,
01:39 a film adaptation of the Sally Nichols novel of the same name. In 2011, she starred alongside
01:44 fellow Brit Clive Owen in her first horror film, Intruders. While she already had some film credits
01:50 on her resume, Purnell also joined the Young Actors Theatre Islington to further hone her craft
01:55 with artistic director Andrew Harries. "And I think I learned the majority of my craft actually spending
02:01 hours in this, you know, in this room here, learning how to move on stage, you know, how to ground
02:06 yourself, how to project to the audience. I think, you know, if it wasn't for Yati, um, I think I'd be in a very
02:11 different position." Film and fantasy. It wasn't until Ella Purnell's teen years that she started
02:17 to think of acting, which began as a fun after-school hobby, as a viable career. She made
02:22 her way into the comic book superhero genre playing one of the high school mean girls in 2013's Kick-Ass 2.
02:28 She didn't get much screen time, but the actress definitely stood out. "Because we feel fabulous,
02:33 not for long." In 2014, Purnell starred in the critically acclaimed indie drama, Wild Like, with
02:40 Bruce Greenwood. Her performance as Mackenzie earned her at least seven Film Festival Award nominations,
02:46 five of which she won. "Pick it up, answer." "No, you answer it." "Answer." "No." "Pick it up." "Fine." "Fine."
02:52 "Hello?" "Surprise!"
02:58 "What?" "It's, it's for you." This was also the year she appeared as a teenaged Maleficent in Disney's live
03:06 action original tale starring Angelina Jolie. Her scene was very brief, and this time she didn't get
03:12 the chance to meet with the star. Similar to her experience with Knightley, the budding actress
03:17 worked with Margot Robbie on 2016's The Legend of Tarzan. Although she's not credited, Purnell was a
03:22 stand-in as young Jane Porter and spent weeks rehearsing with Robbie. "Kind of like they
03:27 combined my face and Margot's face to, I was basically a body double that involved a lot of CGI.
03:34 I really just wanted to work on that production and work with the people that I did." Despite this
03:39 impressive resume, it was in 2016 that Purnell really gained recognition as one of the most
03:43 promising young talents of the time. She stepped into the lead shoes of Aerokinetic teen Emma Bloom
03:49 in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Tim Burton's adaptation of the book series. The
03:54 life-changing role was a dream come true, especially getting to work with the legendary Tim Burton,
03:59 one of her biggest idols. "It was such a pinch me moment. I had no idea how this, how this happened,
04:05 and that was really like, wow, dreams actually, this is so cheesy, but dreams do actually come
04:09 true." In February 2017, Variety awarded Purnell with the Newport Beach Film Festival Breakthrough
04:15 Artist Award and called her one of their "10 Brits to Watch." Her film career continued to grow with
04:20 more indies, including Access All Areas and UFO. Purnell also starred as Helen Garrett in the
04:26 Brian Cox-led war drama Churchill. "Very good, Miss Garrett, thank you." The busy year got even
04:34 busier with her return to the stage in Boundless Theatre's production of Natives, Glenn Waldron's
04:39 Black Mirror-style play about teens and social media. And as if she hadn't worked enough in 2017,
04:45 she also voiced the character Catherine Morland in Audible's audiobook of Jane Austen's Northanger
04:50 Abbey. "How long have you been in Bath?" "About a week, sir." "Really?" "But why should you be
04:55 surprised, sir?" "Why indeed, but some emotion must appear to be raised by your reply, and surprise
05:01 is more easily assumed and not less reasonable than any other." Making it big on the small screen.
05:06 Back in 2015, Ella Purnell appeared as Megan in Channel 4's Cyberbully, an intense docudrama
05:12 led by Maisie Williams. The TV movie was her first foray into television, but she would return to the
05:17 small screen just a few years later, playing Hester Argyle in BBC One's three-part miniseries
05:23 based on Agatha Christie's ordeal by innocents. "What if Jack was telling the truth? What if
05:28 he was innocent? What if he had an alibi? What if Dr. Calgary was lying? Leave it."
05:35 These were transformative years for Purnell, as she moved on from being considered a child actor
05:41 to taking on more mature roles. In late 2017, she was cast in the role of Tess in
05:46 Starz's adaptation of Stephanie Dandler's novel Sweetbitter. "I think that home is the past.
05:58 Who wants to visit the past?" Not only was this her first television show, it was the first time
06:05 she played a leading character. And with Sweetbitter being set in New York, this was also a first for
06:10 her working and living in the U.S. Purnell proved to have a talent for putting on an authentic
06:15 sounding American accent, so much so that she's had to convince people her British roots are the
06:20 real deal. "He didn't believe me. He was like, 'Stop doing this character, you're freaking me out.'
06:24 And at first it was so nice, and then by the end I was like, making him cups of tea, I was listing
06:29 the kings and queens, and then I'm like, how do I prove to you? You're like, 'Bringing corgis in,
06:33 you're like, yeah, whatever you have to do.'" Keeping with the book adaptations,
06:37 Purnell also played Lady Maria Grey in Julian Fellowes' ITV period piece Belgravia.
06:42 2021 marked the start of her animation era, as she lent her voice to the chaotic jinx in
06:47 Netflix's Arcane, for which she snagged an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting.
06:51 "That's me!" "Half a dozen enforcers dead! Enforcers dead! A building blown to pieces!"
06:58 "Do you have any idea what you've done?" "Actually, I do."
07:09 Around the same time, she became the voice of Gwyndala, or Gwyn, in the animated series
07:13 Star Trek Prodigy, and later the video game Star Trek Prodigy Supernova. And although it's a small
07:19 part, some fans might have caught her speaking in her natural British accent as an archaeologist
07:23 named Jane in the season two finale of Invincible. "I must inhabit a living male host to escape the
07:31 curse of this tomb." "That's sexist." Anyone who has seen Showtime's horror drama Yellowjackets
07:38 will recognize Purnell as Queen Bee Jackie Taylor, the captain of the soccer team and best friend to
07:43 Shauna Shipman. She managed to make an unlikable, often insufferable character a very sympathetic
07:48 fan favorite. We won't reveal any spoilers here, but her work on the second season earned her a
07:54 Best Actress nomination from the Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards. "We don't want people
07:59 asking questions, do we?" Art and advocacy. Ella Purnell once said that she's, quote, "always
08:05 felt strongly about defending the defenseless," and that's evident through her philanthropy.
08:09 She's passionate about using her platform and visibility to call awareness to various causes,
08:14 including mental health, women's rights, and education. She worked closely as an ambassador
08:20 with Educate to Eradicate, which raises awareness and fights against FGM, forced marriage, and honor
08:26 based abuse through training and workshops. "Because we believe that the key to ending these
08:31 harmful practices is through education." In 2018, she also became an ambassador for Young Minds,
08:37 a UK organization dedicated to the education and support of young people and their mental health.
08:42 She's been open about her own experiences with anxiety and depression, often reminding her fan
08:47 base to practice self-care. She supports the young actors' theater Islington, which offers
08:52 performing arts classes and workshops for disadvantaged youth. "I think a huge amount
08:57 of work goes into acting and a lot more than people sometimes realize. You know, you only
09:01 really see the tip of the iceberg, you don't see the whole mound that's underneath it."
09:04 Like most artists, Ella Purnell doesn't limit herself to one creative pursuit.
09:09 Along with acting on stage and screen, she loves photography, music, and writing.
09:14 "I just got a piano. Yeah, it's the first time I had a piano since I was a kid,
09:18 because I used to play, and so I've been writing more, which has been really,
09:20 really nice. It's like such a nice break." She's had some of her writing published,
09:24 including an essay about mental health in Scarlett Curtis' 2019 book,
09:28 It's Not Okay to Feel Blue, and other lies. Purnell made her directorial debut with her
09:33 2023 short film Junk Mail, which she co-wrote and co-starred in with her partner Max Bennett-Kelly
09:39 and others. "Look at me, I know it might not feel like it right now, but this is what you were born
09:43 to do. What? Listen to me." Fashion also became a bigger part of her life when she became a brand
09:49 ambassador for Chanel. By far one of the coolest things she's done was joining Film Independent's
09:55 live reading of Jennifer's body, playing the needy to Rachel Sennett's Jennifer. "Even when we were
09:59 little, you used to steal my toys and pour lemonade on my bed. Okay, and now I'm eating your boyfriend.
10:06 See? At least I'm consistent." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the
10:11 bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional
10:17 videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch
10:22 on notifications. The Apocalypse and Beyond. Anyone unfamiliar with Ella Purnell quickly
10:28 took notice of her talent in Fallout, Prime Video's live-action take on the popular video
10:33 game franchise. "I just tracked him. Now the same to you if you try to follow me." "I'm too chicken,
10:42 thanks." She plays Lucy McClain, a young vault dweller with a can-do attitude forced to venture
10:47 to the surface for the first time ever. She's met with criminals and creatures trying to kill her,
10:52 steal her supplies, or both. And she's also at risk of being eaten by just about anything and anyone.
10:58 "I'm not going back without my dad."
11:06 "If you insist on staying, then you will have to adapt." Purnell delivered a fantastic performance,
11:14 and fans appreciated her respect for the beloved source material. It's an intimidating role,
11:19 and she took training and research very seriously. Thankfully, the series was renewed for a second
11:25 season. "You coming?" Purnell's first taste of the Apocalypse came in Zack Snyder's 2021 zombie
11:37 heist film Army of the Dead, where she starred as Kate, the estranged daughter of Dave Bautista's
11:42 Scott Ward. She'll reprise her role in the anime prequel series Army of the Dead Lost Vegas,
11:47 though the status on its release is still up in the air as of April 2024. "You weren't there,
11:54 Scott. You didn't call, you didn't visit, you didn't talk about it." Coming up, Purnell is
12:00 taking on another lead role as Rhiannon Lewis in Sky Atlantic's dramedy Sweet Pea, of which
12:04 she's also an executive producer. The first season wrapped production in late December 2023.
12:10 "A new challenging experience, which I always embrace. Definitely learning how to balance
12:17 producing and acting in something was a whole new ballgame." "But she's up for it."
12:23 "I am so up for it." In April 2024, Cannes series honored Ella Purnell with the Madame Figaro Rising
12:30 Star Award for all her exceptional work in the TV landscape. The lovable multi-hyphenate deserves
12:35 all the praise and accolades, and we can't wait to see what she conquers next. "I did break a
12:40 few props, but I didn't hurt anyone, and I didn't hurt myself, and I stretched, and I warmed up,
12:47 and I got fit, and I quit smoking, and you know, that's not something I ever thought I could do, so
12:53 I'm proud." "So much to be proud of." What's your favorite Ella Purnell role?
12:58 Did you love her in Fallout? Let us know in the comments below. "I don't know who you are, or
13:05 how you know the things that you do, but you are going to get across that wasteland,
13:11 and we're gonna do it together, okay? That's a promise." Do you agree with our picks? Check out
13:18 this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified
13:24 about our latest videos.
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