The star of 'Yellowjackets', 'Fallout' and more takes us through her formative years as a Lenny Kravitz and Girls Aloud super-stan.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Alex from NME and today we're joined by the star of Fallout, Yellowjackets and
00:24 many more, it's Ella Purnell. How are we doing? Hi, I'm good, how are you? I'm good, thanks,
00:30 yeah, really great. Are you prepared for when people inevitably shout at you in the street,
00:34 okie dokie? I actually can't wait. You know, there's worse things to get shouted at you
00:39 on the street, isn't there? Okie dokie is quite wholesome, brighten up your day a little
00:43 bit. I don't know, I've actually sort of adopted it into my own language now. I started about
00:49 halfway through filming, like, "Ella, we're ready for you on set." Okie dokie. I don't
00:53 know, sort of turning into her slowly. Do you get much of that sort of people accosting
00:57 you in the street kind of thing? I wouldn't say accosting, I don't know, maybe. Saying
01:02 hello? Just saying hi, you know, I haven't had any horrible experiences so far. Do you
01:09 ever get mistaken for other actors? You know what does happen quite a lot, which I've actually
01:13 done this myself and I know how it feels, I think people, they see you on screen and
01:19 you become sort of like a part of their inner world, you know, maybe they sort of absorb
01:22 you into their subconscious, they think they know you. So I've had a lot of people who
01:26 think, "Did we go to school together? Do I know you from somewhere? We must have grown
01:30 up together. Where did you grow up?" You know, or sometimes the best ones is someone who
01:34 sort of waves at you like they know you and then they start to approach you and then they
01:36 realise and they're like... You know, and I've done that to someone and I say, "I know
01:41 I know you, we met at this party." And then I realise he was actually from a TV show I
01:45 just watched. I was so embarrassed. There's a scene in episode one where you literally
01:50 have to staple your stomach from a wound. Can you talk me through the process of shooting
01:55 that?
01:56 That was so fun. I love stuff like that. I love, I don't know, acting in pain or desperate
02:03 or I don't know, I don't know what's wrong with me. I love stuff like that and I remember
02:08 that because there's so much stuff in Fallout that is just so mental and you spend a lot
02:13 of time, or I spend a lot of time as an actor trying to make my performance grounded and
02:17 naturalistic. At least in this show, really thinking, "What would I do if I saw the world
02:24 for the first time?" And then something happens like you get stabbed in the stomach and you
02:29 think, "Okay, well I would obviously die." But now we have to kind of, you know, not
02:33 be so naturalistic and kind of go into this hyper-realistic world and that was one of
02:37 those where Stimpaks really come in handy. I'll put it that way.
02:41 But what do they have you doing on set? Is it like a dummy or something?
02:45 It was a prosthetic that they put on me and then there was also a dummy. There was two.
02:51 So I had the prosthetic that was sort of the open wound and then there was a dummy in front
02:54 and I sort of put my head on top of the dummy's body, wrapped, you know, gave her a big bear
02:58 hug from behind and then stapled her, it's stomach with the staple gun.
03:06 And there's another really creepy scene actually where you're like stamping on this sort of
03:11 monster bug thing to death over and over and over again.
03:13 Oh, the radroach.
03:14 What is that that you're stamping on?
03:16 That's a mutated cockroach that has adapted to the wasteland by actually improving.
03:25 And in real life, what is it?
03:27 In real life, it's a plastic giant toy. It's a cockroach that is pretty hard and gross
03:38 and they have many different forms of it. They have one actually that's like chopped
03:42 in half and there's all this sort of neon green goo coming out of it, oozing out of
03:47 it. It's really gross. As someone that doesn't love cockroaches.
03:53 Who does love cockroaches?
03:54 There's got to be someone out there who keeps them as pets or something. I don't know.
03:59 Your dad in the show is played by the wonderful Carmel Clacklin. What is he like to hang out
04:03 with? I'm guessing really lovely.
04:04 He's so nice. I mean, if you've met him, he's just so, so, so sweet. He's the most kind
04:09 and generous person as well as actor. I have so many stories about Kyle.
04:15 You know, one of my stories is I have a really, really good friend who is a huge Twin Peaks
04:20 fan. And so I got him for Secret Santa. And so I asked Kyle if he would do a video. I
04:26 never do stuff like this, but I honestly, I didn't buy a present and I left it to the
04:30 last minute. I panicked. That's what really happened. And Kyle made him the sweetest video.
04:34 It's about two minutes. He puts on a suit.
04:38 Just for this video?
04:39 What a nice guy. You know, he makes all these Twin Peaks references. Damn good cup of coffee.
04:43 And then he sends it over to me and my friend cried his eyes out. He was a mess. And I just
04:48 think that is the sweetest thing in the world. Such a nice guy.
04:51 Look out at this wasteland. Looks like chaos, but there's always somebody behind the wheel.
04:59 Okay, you're in a real life apocalypse situation. You're about to head into the vault right
05:07 there to wait it out. You can take three former co-stars with you. Who are you taking and
05:12 what?
05:13 Anyone I've worked with.
05:14 Yeah. You can have one from Fallout, I think.
05:15 The real life people, I suppose. Sophie Nelise from Yellow Jackets. Just an angel.
05:22 She'd be good for just sort of calming you down or like having fun. What?
05:25 She's just good for having fun with. I suppose I should bring people that are like handy
05:29 in the apocalypse. When I'm going into the vault, aren't I?
05:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:32 Oh my gosh, this is so hard. I hate questions like this because I feel so bad for not picking
05:36 people and then I forget half the people I've worked with. Courtney also from Yellow Jackets.
05:40 Yeah, yeah.
05:41 You know who'd be really fun in a vault? Oh, but Kyle. Oh my gosh.
05:45 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
05:46 I'd have to take Kyle. I'd have to take Kyle. But also Annabelle. I don't know. This is
05:52 so hard.
05:53 What are you going to do when you're down there?
05:55 I would be so bad. I also go a bit mad if I don't go outside at least once a day. I
06:00 would have a really hard time. You'd have to take some vitamin D as well, wouldn't you?
06:04 You'd get really depressed.
06:05 What is happening here?
06:07 Everyone wants to save the world. They just disagree on how.
06:18 Okay, Enemy's a music magazine. So one of the things we love to do is check up on the
06:24 listening habits of our favourite actors. So we always ask, what is the album that you've
06:29 got on repeat at the moment that you're obsessed with?
06:31 Oh my gosh, I have so many. The one that I just keep coming back to, I will never get
06:37 bored of it. Nora Jones. What's the name of the album? Honestly, I just put her on my
06:44 Alexa when I'm cooking. It's like my evening wind down. I love that song. I love that album.
06:53 I have so many. Also, Essa James, Sunday Kind of Love. That's another good one. Brandy Carlyle.
07:00 I have so many. Amy Winehouse.
07:02 Are you excited about the film?
07:04 I am. I'm very excited. It comes out soon, right?
07:08 April the 12th, I think.
07:10 Yeah, I will definitely be watching it.
07:12 What were you into when you were growing up as a teenager? What albums? Who was on your
07:16 wall?
07:17 You know, I loved Lenny Kravitz.
07:18 Really?
07:19 I did. That's another album I would listen to. Lenny Kravitz, greatest hits. I loved
07:23 ABBA. I went through a Girls Aloud phase. That was actually my first concert I ever
07:27 went to. You know, I was never really a big super fan of, I don't know, Harry Styles or
07:35 One Direction or Justin Bieber was the big one growing up, of course.
07:39 Oh, yeah.
07:40 I was a big Lenny Kravitz fan. I like Brian Adams.
07:44 Summer of '69.
07:45 That's one of my favourite songs. That's actually me and my mum's song, and that's my go-to
07:50 karaoke song. It's the only one I know all the words to.
07:53 Have you ever met any of your all-time favourite musicians and fanned out a bit?
07:58 No, actually, I haven't. I don't meet a lot of musicians. I'd like to.
08:04 Well, I think you sing a bit, don't you? I've seen a few covers on YouTube.
08:07 I do sometimes. I like a bit of karaoke. I do sing. I'd like to do some music stuff in
08:14 the future. It's one of those things I keep saying I'm going to do, and then I keep putting
08:18 it off and putting it off. I just got a piano.
08:21 Yeah?
08:22 Yeah, it's the first time I had a piano since I was a kid because I used to play, and so
08:25 I've been writing more, which has been really, really nice. It's such a nice break. It's
08:29 such a nice thing to do on your breaks.
08:31 What do you like to write about? Is it your feelings? Is it fictional stories?
08:35 You know, I struggle with lyrics. Lyrics always come second. My partner is a musician, and
08:39 he does lyrics first, and I'm the opposite. I'll do the chords and the melody, and then
08:44 I just kind of have to think quite hard about what I want to do, and I get caught up on
08:48 time. He's taught me so much about music, so I don't know. We'll see.
08:53 Were you in bands when you were younger?
08:55 I did have a band, actually.
08:56 Oh, really? Tell me about that. What was it called?
08:58 We didn't have a name, I think. We sort of were just jammed. We were never really that
09:02 motivated. It was my mate Rudy and my mate Ryan, incredible guitarist. It's just the
09:08 three of us, and we were just jammed. We did a lot of covers, and then we kept saying,
09:13 "We've got to do a gig. We've got to do a gig," and then I just always... I don't know.
09:18 It's hard to really plan your life as an actor, because you never know where you're going
09:21 to be, you know?
09:22 Yeah, and you were the singer in this band?
09:24 Yeah.
09:25 Okay. What covers did you do?
09:26 Guitar, drums. Oh my gosh, you're really bringing me back. I was about 18, so... We did Everybody
09:31 Wants to Be a Cat. We had a great cover of that. I like doing sort of jazzy things, a
09:37 bit of soul, a bit of blues. That's my vibe. Maybe that's why I love Nora Jones and Amy
09:41 Winehouse and Etta James so much. Everybody Wants to Be a Cat was a big one. Feeling Good,
09:47 that's a really fun one to play with.
09:49 I can actually imagine Lucy being in a band with Maximus and the Ghoul. That could be
09:53 a dream.
09:54 Can you imagine? That would be the best band ever. It would have to be sort of like Blue
09:58 Grass. You've got the ghoul in it. You're automatically so cool. Any band with the ghoul
10:03 in it is just the coolest thing ever.
10:06 I'm not sure he'd be too good at singing. I mean, breathing is hard enough without having
10:09 a nose.
10:10 He'd be on guitar, wouldn't he? He'd be bass or... It's not a drummer. Maximus is the drummer
10:14 because he's got that pent up rage. Maybe he'd do like... I don't know. We'd need maybe
10:21 a fourth member of the band. Kyle! He'd be on guitar. He'd be cool in a band, wouldn't
10:28 he?
10:29 Definitely. And one last music question. Are you a person that makes playlists for your
10:33 characters?
10:34 I am.
10:35 What's on Lucy's playlist?
10:36 I make so many playlists. My Spotify is full. Gosh, you're really bringing me back. What
10:45 was on my Lucy playlist? You know what? There's actually a lot of Fallout playlists on Spotify
10:51 already that I would listen to and it's got that kind of 50s, 60s vibe, which was really
10:54 helpful when I was doing the stuff at the beginning of the show, my Vault Dweller stuff
10:59 and it's very quaint and very wholesome. And I also have very sad playlists. There was
11:06 one song that I really loved. It's called When the World Caves In, and it's the acoustic
11:13 version and it's heartbreaking. It tells the story of the bombs falling and that one was
11:18 really good about midway through the season to listen to.
11:23 And my last question then, it's a bit of a personal one for me. I'm a big fan of your
11:28 Channel 4 sitcom parody with Adam Buxton and Asa Butterfield.
11:33 Oh my god. I forgot all about that.
11:36 Right Place, Wrong Tim.
11:37 Yeah.
11:38 Were there any plans to do anything more with that beyond just the shortlist on YouTube?
11:42 No, honestly, I made that movie with a bunch of friends. It really was everyone I knew
11:49 and everyone I grew up with. I've known Asa since we were like 13 or 14 and then we did
11:55 Miss Peregrine's together and we have a ton of mutual friends. The director of that short
11:59 was actually a mutual friend of ours. I think I met him through Asa actually.
12:02 Yeah.
12:03 So it was just a bunch of us Brit kids getting together and making a stupid film.
12:08 Because it almost feels like it could be an episode of Black Mirror.
12:10 It's really good. It's really good, isn't it? I haven't seen that in ages. I kind of
12:15 completely forgot about it.
12:16 Yeah.
12:17 That was fun.
12:18 What was it like working with Alan Buxton? Because I imagine he's not someone you get
12:21 to work with very often, is he?
12:22 No. He was really funny and a really nice guy. He's so busy and he's so established
12:29 and he just came and was so committed and just brought it and we played around and he
12:33 really made me giggle.
12:34 Yeah. And you've got quite a violent scene at the end that you had to film. What was
12:39 that like?
12:40 It was fun. It was fun. Especially because it's Asa and we hadn't really gotten to do
12:46 anything like that before. Obviously quite different from Miss Peregrine's that we did
12:50 together and suddenly he's like crazy eyes, strangling me. We were just having so much
12:56 fun. So much blood. Oh my god. Yeah.
13:00 But yeah, Ella Pinell fans, if you haven't seen that, check it out on YouTube. It's really
13:03 good. But thanks so much for chatting to me today, Alex. It's been a pleasure.
13:06 Thank you so much. It was nice to meet you.
13:08 There you are, you little killer.
13:15 A flame in your heart.
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