Fallout and Arcane star Ella Purnell shares conflicted feelings about her recent success in video game adaptations, revealing her worries about being typecast. Even in her early television roles in Sweetbitter and Belgravia in the late 2010s and 2020s, Purnell stood out. This was followed by her performance as Jackie in Showtime’s thriller Yellowjackets where the performer proved to be a scene-stealer. But with the one-two punch of Lucy in Prime Video’s sci-fi dystopia Fallout and voicing Jinx in the Emmy-nominated animated Netflix series Arcane, Purnell has been front and center for some of the best video game adaptations.

Purnell spoke to the crowd at the MCM x EGX 2024 event, revealing her worries about being typecast in video game series and movies, In the quote below, via Popverse, the Yellowjackets alum reflects on being part of two major adaptations and shares that she’s thought of staying away from video game properties out of concerns of being typecast:

Here’s the truth, and I feel guilty saying this, but I’m not a gamer, and I don’t know how I’ve managed to land two video game adaptations that have both been good. I don’t know how that’s happened, but it has. I don’t know the answer.

I actually think I need to stay away from video game adaptations now, because I’m going to get typecast. I’m going to be the video game girl. There are worse things to be than that, I suppose.

What Purnell’s Worries About Being Typecast Mean

Her Concern Makes Sense

The fear of being viewed a certain way by agents and decision-makers in Hollywood is valid. It was long held that, save for the occasional exception, television stars could not make the jump to movies. That has been mostly discarded over the past decades, with A-list actors coming to the small screen. But the issue is arguably more prevalent on the genre level.

Actors known for horror movies can be largely kept to that genre at times, as is the case with sci-fi TV stars. Cast members from popular teen dramas would, for a long time, struggle to transition to more adult roles. These issues, too, have somewhat changed. But there is absolutely a tendency for casting directors to lean on actors who have proven themselves with a specific kind of story and character. Fortunately, that understandable inclination in the casting process can also be disrupted.

Our Take On Purnell’s Comments

Her Filmography Is Diverse

Purnell’s other major television series in 2024 was the comedic thriller Sweetpea, which has been renewed for season 2. The actor plays Rhiannon, a seemingly normal young woman with a dark secret. The phenomenon of being typecast is undeniable. But with enough time, and with Purnell’s protagonists all being markedly different, all showcasing different strengths, she should sidestep that concern as she has shown that she has range outside of just doing video game adaptations like Fallout and Arcane.