Ella Purnell

Ella Summer Purnell (born 17 September 1996) is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in West End theatre and films such as Never Let Me Go (2010), Intruders (2011), and Maleficent (2014). Her other films include Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016), Churchill (2017), and Army of the Dead (2021).

On television, Purnell has starred in the mystery series Ordeal by Innocence (2018), the historical miniseries Belgravia (2020), the thriller Yellowjackets (2021–2023), and the post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout (2024–present). She also voices Jinx in Arcane (2021–present) and Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy (2021–present).

Early life
Ella Summer Purnell was born in the Whitechapel area of London on 17 September 1996. She grew up in Bethnal Green. She attended Bethnal Green Montessori, Forest School, the City of London School for Girls, and the Young Actors Theatre Islington. She also attended weekly classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, studying acting, singing, and dance, and was represented by their in-house talent agency.

At 18, she had finished school and considered quitting acting. She contemplated attending university and becoming a writer, therapist, or teacher. So, she decided to travel the world for a year to "find herself." Shortly after her period of "travelling and drinking," she was offered a role in Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. One of her dreams was to work with Wes Anderson or Tim Burton, so she accepted. She described her decision to continue acting as "bittersweet at first because it felt like a lost opportunity of a different path in life," but looking back, she felt glad that she had continued her acting career.

Film
In 2008, Purnell beat hundreds of other girls for a role in Oliver! at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Towards the end of her time in Oliver!, she won the role of Young Ruth (played by Keira Knightley as an adult) in Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go – a feature film based on the book by Kazuo Ishiguro. It was released in 2010 to positive reviews. She was then cast as Kayleigh in Gustavo Ron's Ways to Live Forever, adapted from the book by Sally Nicholls, and as Mia in the Juan Carlos Fresnadillo film Intruders. Purnell was named by Screen International as one of 10 UK Stars of Tomorrow. She also appeared in the BBC HD film short Candy in June 2011.

In 2013, Purnell appeared in the feature film Kick-Ass 2 as the character Dolce. The following year, she starred in the independent film Wildlike, which earned her a number of accolades at film festivals and played the teenage version of Angelina Jolie's titular character in Disney's Maleficent. In 2016, Purnell starred in Tim Burton's adaptation of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, based on the novel of the same name, by Ransom Riggs. In 2017, she played Mia in Access All Areas. Later that year, Purnell appeared in the historical drama film Churchill, playing Winston Churchill's secretary Helen Garrett.

Television
In 2018, Purnell appeared as Hester Argyll in the BBC mini-series Ordeal by Innocence, based on the Agatha Christie book of the same name. Later that year, Purnell starred in the leading role of the Starz show Sweetbitter, based on Stephanie Danler's novel of the same name. She played Tess, a naive 22-year-old who moves to New York City to pursue a new life, and gets caught up in the world of fine dining. It was announced in December 2019 that Starz had cancelled the series after two seasons. In 2020, Purnell played Lady Maria Grey in Julian Fellowes's period drama Belgravia, co-produced by ITV and Epix. In 2021, she began starring as Jackie in the Showtime drama series Yellowjackets. Later that year she voiced Gwyn in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy and Jinx in the Netflix animated series Arcane. In 2024, she starred as Lucy MacLean in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Fallout.