Ella Purnell: Movies & Box Office

Ella Purnell is an English actress whose career began on the West End at the age of thirteen, when she was cast in the 2009 production of Oliver! at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Born on 17 September 1996 in the Whitechapel district of London, she grew up in Bethnal Green and attended a range of schools including Bethnal Green Montessori, Forest School, the City of London School for Girls, and the Young Actors Theatre Islington, while also taking weekly drama classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Her breakthrough on screen came when she portrayed the younger version of Keira Knightley's character in Mark Romanek's adaptation of Never Let Me Go (2010), followed by roles in Ways to Live Forever (2010) and Intruders (2011). Recognised early for her talent, Screen International named her one of its 10 UK Stars of Tomorrow in 2010. Purnell continued to build a diverse portfolio, appearing as Dolce in Kick‑Ass 2 (2013), as the teen version of Angelina Jolie's titular heroine in Disney's Maleficent (2014), and as a lead in the indie drama Wildlike (2014), which earned her festival accolades. After a brief pause to consider university, she returned to fulfill a childhood dream by working with Tim Burton in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016). Subsequent notable film work includes Churchill (2017) and Army of the Dead (2021). On television, she has delivered strong performances as Hester Argyll in Ordeal by Innocence (2018), Lady Maria Grey in Belgravia (2020), and Jackie Taylor in the critically acclaimed series Yellowjackets (2021‑present), while also lending her voice to Jinx in Netflix’s Arcane (2021‑2024) and Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy (2021‑2024). In 2024 she expanded into production, executive‑producing and starring in the dark comedy Sweetpea, and she now splits her time between London and Los Angeles, continuing to advocate for diversity and social issues.