Ella Purnell is an English actress who is known for her roles in the American television series Sweetbitter (2018) and Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas (2021).
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Ella Summer Purnell [1] was born on Tuesday, September 17, 1996 (age 24 years; as of 2020), in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London, England. Her zodiac sign is Virgo.
Ella Purnell as a child
She studied at Forest School in London, the City of London School for Girls, and The Young Actors Theatre Islington. At the same time, she also studied at Sylvia Young Theatre School in London, where she took weekly classes of acting, singing, and dance. While pursuing her schooling, she got into many acting projects, which helped her pay for her school tuition. She intended to attend a university and study English, film, or psychology but never went. [2] In August 2018, she shifted to Brooklyn, New York.
Height [3]: 5’ 4”
Eye Colour: Hazel
Hair Colour: Golden Brown
Ella was born to Suzy Purnell and Simon Reid. Soon after she was born, her parent’s split up. Ella stayed with her mother but remained in touch with her father.
Ella Purnell with her mother
Her father remarried a woman named Isabelle and had three sons with her: Enzo Reid, Noa Reid, and Leon Reid. Ella is close to all her three half-brothers.
Ella Purnell with her father, stepmother, and half-brothers
Her mother, on the other hand, got married to Jon Squirrell, and together they run the Shoreditch House from The Vault gym in London.
Ella Purnell with her mother and stepfather
She was once in a relationship with James Coates, an English musician and singer-songwriter.
Ella Purnell with James Coates
She was once rumored to be dating the American actors Brad Pitt and Tom Holland.
Brad Pitt
Ella Purnell with Tom Holland
As of 2021, she is dating the Canadian-Italian actor, musician, and model Rob Raco.
Ella Purnell with Rob Raco
In 2008, she made her stage debut with the play ‘Oliver!’ at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, as a part of a children’s ensemble and remained in the show for a year. In 2017, she played the role of ‘A’ in the play Natives by Glenn Waldron, which took place at Southwark Playhouse in London and was directed by Rob Drummer.
Towards the end of her time in Oliver!, she auditioned for the British romantic tragedy film ‘Never Let Me Go,’ and made her film debut in the role of ‘young Ruth C’ in 2010.
Ella Purnell in Never Let Me Go (2010)
She has acted in British films: Ways to Live Forever (2010), Intruders (2011), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), and Churchill (2017). She made her American film debut with the film Maleficent (2014) as ‘Teen Maleficent.’
Ella Purnell in Meleficent (2014)
She has acted in the American films: Wildlike (2014), The Legend of Tarzan (2016), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016), UFO (2018), and Army of the Dead (2021). In 2017, she played her first lead role of ‘Mia’ in the American film ‘Access All Areas.’
Ella Purnell in Access All Areas (2017)
She has also acted in the short films Candy (2011), Right Place Wrong Tim (2018), and Oksijan (2018).
She made her television debut with the British television film ‘Cyberbully’ as ‘Megan;’ the movie aired on Channel 4 in 2015.
Ella Purnell in Cyberbully (2015)
She made her series debut on television with ‘Ordeal by Innocence’ (2018) in the role of ‘Hester Argyll.’
She made her American television debut with the Starz show ‘Sweetbitter’ (2018), based on Stephanie Danler’s internationally best-selling novel of the same name, in the lead role of Tess.
Sweetbitter (2018)
She has also acted in the American series Belgravia (2020), Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas (2021), and Yellowjackets (2021).
A picture signed by Ella Purnell
I had to learn Chopin’s Nocturne No 4 or 5, I used to play the piano when I was a kid but hadn’t played for ages, so sitting at a piano wasn’t completely alien to me but you do forget just how hard it is to play! It took me three months to learn five bars. It was really tough but really nice to do and I’ve slowly got back into my piano. And for Hester, it is another expression of her and who she is. She was taught to play with a book on her head and play these classical pieces. I imagine in her spare time she dreams of going to Greenwich and playing jazz, wearing trousers and drinking wine and just being herself which she never gets to explore.”
Ella Purnell singing and playing the piano
I have always felt passionate about talking openly and removing the stigma around mental health after my own struggles as a teenager with anxiety, depression and self-harm left me feeling alone and unable to ask for help. Looking back, despite the fact almost half the class were struggling with different issues, we had no idea who or where to turn to.”
We provide safeguarding training for people. We train teachers and do assemblies and workshops with kids to educate them about these practices, to just make them aware that there are options. I’d spend my whole life working with young people if I could. I think they’re incredible.”
That upsets me. My brothers do it so much. I’ll be saying something and they’ll go ‘Sh!’, and it goes with the hand gesture as well, it makes me want to strangle them.”
She also gets annoyed if she has to share her cutlery with anyone or by anyone who tries to take food off her plate.
I don’t like when people take food off my plate like if you want that food you could order that, it’s my food. Like if I offer it’s fine, but don’t take it without asking — it’s food, its important to me!”
I thought, I’m 21, I haven’t had a job in a while, I really don’t know if this is a job I want to continue doing. The roles I was being offered were the girlfriend of the main, male character; a female that needs saving; or the goal, something that is wanted. Just there to be a sex object, portrayed as weak, pretty, nice.”
Had this happened to me now I’d feel able to say, ‘Mum, I need to take some time off school, or, Mum, I am suffering from this thing. Self-harm is not about attention — I hid [my scars] for six months, wore long T-shirts, covered them up with make-up. It’s about punishing yourself, for people who dislike themselves or suffer from insecurity or self-doubt. They want to hurt themselves because they think they deserve it: that’s where I was at. You know it’s wrong, you don’t want to worry about other people, but if you are in that headspace it feels good. I’m sure it releases adrenaline or something, it made me calm, and for that reason for me, it became an addiction. I had to work very hard to remove my trigger points and to create a safe space so I wouldn’t become tempted to get back into it again. I still have the scars and it’s something that I did that I will always regret: it hurt a lot of people around me and it’s on my body forever. It’s something I never felt comfortable talking about before.”
Ella Purnell talking about her car in an Instagram post
Ella Purnell with a dog
Ella Purnell tattoos
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