Ella Purnell gives insight to the pressure in Hollywood and the acting industry.
Actor Ella Purnell grew up too fast: "You shouldn't really have to ask yourself about your career and your taxes when you’re 15," jokes the 28-year-old Brit. She landed her first film at just 13, playing the young Keira Knightley in the sci-fi "Never Let Me Go." From there, Purnell quickly gained recognition as the child star who could pull off action-packed features in "Kick-Ass 2" or enchant the screen with roles with fantasy films "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." But it wasn’t until her 20s that she truly hit her stride, breaking into television with shows like suspense-filled series "Yellowjackets."
00:00It seems like since you have started to have success that you've been working a lot, like you're popping up on multiple shows a year and this and that kind of thing.
00:07And I was wondering if there has been any like pressure that, you know, now you've had success and you're getting opportunities to, you know, do as much as I can or level up and continue to like progress.
00:19What are you thinking as far as a career, you know, now that you've been in it for, you know, 10 plus years?
00:24I think that's a really interesting question. I think about that a lot.
00:26We have this sort of scarcity mindset as it not just actors, anyone who is sort of a freelancer or works in a creative industry where you don't have a regular nine to five, you have to create your own opportunities.
00:39You have to go after your own work. There is this thing of work, work, work, work, because you never know when your next job is going to come.
00:45You know, what if I don't get another job? What if blah, blah, blah. It's terrifying, but I do think that's really unhealthy.
00:50And I've definitely been guilty of that. I love my job. I love what I do.
00:54But you're also, it's addictive, that, that adrenaline, like it's so addictive, that cycle of rejection as well.
01:00You know, wanting a part, losing the part, wanting another part. It's a gambling thing almost.
01:05And I do think over the last couple of years, you know, I've, I, I've been moving very fast and I've had to sort of learn that being selective is actually, you know,
01:17operating from this place of abundance of like, what will be, will be, surrender. I sound so weird, but it's true.
01:23I actually think then it's healthier. You're in a better place. Like you have to take care of yourself first and foremost.
01:29I no longer, but I definitely have, but I no longer feel the pressure to, like you say, work, work, work, work, work, and actually only pick the things that you are completely in love with.
01:38And you really feel is the right move for you. Don't just take whatever you can get because you'll get burnt out eventually.
01:46Yeah. I mean, I, I don't know how you stay sane. I mean, I guess that's, that's the, the question, but with the projects they're working on now with, with Sweet Pea, the fallout,
01:54like you're the lead of the show, you're, you're kind of the star of the show in a different sort of way than in a lot of the shows that came before it.
02:00Does that change your mindset as well? Like how do you think about, uh, the, the final product or you having a little bit more, I guess, ownership over it?
02:08Um, or not ownership, but your, your face is on it to a certain degree. Does that change your mindset with these projects?
02:14I think it, it feels like pressure for sure. Um, but I, I think you have to just really not actually actively work very hard to not think about that.
02:24And treat it as if it's anything else, you know, you should be putting a hundred percent into every project, regardless of the size of your role or the significance of, you know, the paycheck or whatever it is.
02:35You know, you should be just doing your best all the time, I suppose. And yeah, when I found out I got full, I was absolutely terrified.
02:43It was a big fan base behind the game and it's Amazon show. It's definitely like my biggest project today. It was terrifying. Um, but I suppose one of the benefits of having grown up in this and having been doing it for a long time,
02:54I understand this is a marathon and not a sprint and just put one foot in front of the other, stay off the internet and do your best. And that's what you can do, I suppose.
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