Ella Purnell's Real Name: Ella Summer Purnell

Quick answer: Ella Purnell's full name is Ella Summer Purnell. She was born on September 17, 1996, in London. She acts under her first name and surname, and Summer is her middle name. She is known for playing Lucy MacLean in Prime Video's Fallout, Jackie in Yellowjackets, and Rhiannon in Sweetpea, which she also executive produced. She also voices Jinx in Arcane (Library of Congress; The Guardian).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Purnell, Ella, 1996-." Its citation reads "Ella Purnell, actress; b. September 17, 1996 in London, England, UK as Ella Summer Purnell."

The Guardian's 2024 profile says she grew up in east London and took singing and dancing lessons at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. That training led to a West End role in Oliver! when she was a child. She has said she "never really planned on becoming an actor." At 18 she won a university place to study a creative-writing subject but deferred it when Tim Burton cast her, and she later gave the place up. She told the paper she has three younger brothers.

Career highlights

Her film debut came in Never Let Me Go, playing the young version of Keira Knightley's character, Ruth. Variety lists later film work including Kick-Ass 2, Maleficent (as the teenage Maleficent), and Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016). She also appeared in Army of the Dead as Dave Bautista's estranged daughter.

In 2017 she moved to New York to lead Sweetbitter, a series about a young woman coming of age in the city's restaurant scene. Her British TV work includes the Agatha Christie adaptation Ordeal by Innocence and Julian Fellowes's Belgravia. She voiced a character in Star Trek: Prodigy and the volatile Jinx in the animated series Arcane.

She joined Showtime's Yellowjackets in 2021 as Jackie, captain of a high school soccer team stranded after a plane crash. In April 2024 she starred as vault dweller Lucy MacLean in Fallout, Prime Video's adaptation of the video game series. She told Variety the role was first pitched to her as a cross between Ned Flanders and Leslie Knope in the apocalypse. The Guardian reported it was the most-watched show across streaming platforms that month. Later in 2024 she led Sweetpea on Sky and Starz as Rhiannon, a lonely woman turned killer. It was her first credit as an executive producer. Variety also reported that she directed a short film, Junk Male, and shot Craig Roberts's killer-squirrel horror comedy The Scurry.

Name notes for searchers

Ella is her given first name and Summer her middle name. Purnell is her family surname. She has always been credited as Ella Purnell.