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Ella Purnell, who is on a winning streak with her character choices, has been a part of Yellowjackets, Army of the Dead, Sweetbitter, Fallout , and most recently, Sweetpea. Notably, her streak of success has one thing in common – a desire for the dark. In Sweetpea, Rhiannon Lewis starts as the quiet one. She's the one people look through, underestimate and take for granted. Tired of being walked all over, Lewis ends up on a rather unusual spree of murders to gain confidence. For Purnell, this was a character she could completely bite her teeth into. But what initially drove her to the part was a challenge – whether she could ace the many layers of Rhiannon and her life. "It was the challenge of telling a story of a female serial killer in a way that would make the audience feel so morally conflicted. We wanted the audience to relate to Rhiannon and feel empathy for her and really get inside her head, tell that story, but at the same time, draw quite a hard line and not relating to what she does," Purnell said in an exclusive interview with WION. Back when she first got involved with the project, Purnell was most excited about knowing and understanding the character. "I really knew what my pitch for this character was going to be, you know? And when I first met Ella Jones, the director, I had all these ideas that I was just excited to share. She could have easily turned around and been like, that's not how I see the character and it would have gone to somebody else and it would have been brilliant. But instead it was really like we just found each other as sort of these creative soulmates," she recalled, adding that it was all organic and when the spark hit, it just did. The actor, who is also the voice behind Jinx in Arcane and Gwyndala in Star Trek: Prodigy, is certain that the dark comedy has something for everyone. It's a story of grief, rage, bullying and identity but as Purnell elaborates, "It's also in many ways, quite a sweet story, when you take away the murders and all the killing. There is quite a sweet coming-of-age element to this young woman who is very much stuck in the past and hasn't maybe had all of the experience that most 27-28-year-olds have had. And she finally gets a bit of confidence and goes out on a date, has a kiss, she makes friends and goes to a club... It's really, really sweet. In a way, despite everything that she's doing, you are sort of rooting for her to have those experiences. Well, I think there's a lot to relate to." The Never Let Me Go actor also acknowledged the importance of comedy in alleviating the moments of heaviness on screen. Getting to the truth of the character, as explained by Purnell, was to grasp the essence of who Rhiannon is, and whether or not she related to the theme of bullying wasn't a marker important enough. "She feels overlooked, she feels underestimated, and that nobody really sees her, you know? Yes. Physically, they don't see her. They sit with on her on the bus, but also they don't know who she is. And I think that's because she doesn't really know who she is. She never got the chance to develop in that way. So, yeah, there's definitely plenty for an actor to experiment with," elucidated Purnell. But stepping into Rhiannon's shoes was no cakewalk – it required extensive research into all kinds of different themes the show deals with. "I obviously did a lot of research into female serial killers. I watched a lot of Dexter," she recalled, adding, "I also did a lot of research into childhood trauma because I think that was really the main defining piece with Rhiannon and it was the main thing that shaped her." Those acquainted with Sweetpea would know Rhiannon is stuck in the past, and can't accept the reality of the present, and that lends very well to the other themes. "The themes of victimhood or this sort of this moral code that she develops. I think there's a part of Rhiannon that is so attached to her trauma. It's been a part of her identity for so long and she's been so stuck in the past that, subconsciously, she can't let it go. Even when she's offered the chance to heal, to forgive her childhood bully, to face the past, accept it and move on, she can't... There's this quote and I'm probably going to butcher it, but it says, 'your brain would much rather stick to a familiar hell than an unfamiliar heaven' and that's what Rhiannon is - she's really kind of doing it to herself a little bit. And at one point, you stop feeling sorry for her," explained Purnell, as she shed light on the toughest part she'd to ace during the making of the show. For the most part, Purnell, who is both the leading actor and executive producer of the series streaming on JioCinema Premium, wanted the audience to feel that push and pull. It's something that scared and excited her at the same time. But with the 'extra say' of the double role, came a few added responsibilities as well. A post shared by Ella Purnell (@ella_purnell) "I don't know how to describe it - but it feels like I've got a lot more at stake, like I care so much. I really put my heart and soul into this project and, and I do feel a level of responsibility, whether it succeeds or doesn't succeed," Purnell said, adding she hasn't had this level of investment in a project before. The six-part series, co-starring Nicole Lecky and Calam Lynch, is based on CJ Skuse's novel of the same name. While the first season ended on an intriguing cliffhanger, it remains to be seen if Purnell takes her character and the storyline forward. When not watching or writing about cinema, you'll find Kriti in her own Bollywood bubble dreaming about the magic of movies. Her other areas of interest include all None
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