Ella, 19, was born and lives in East London. She has been acting professionally since her first appearance aged 9 in the West End production of Oliver! Her film debut was playing the young Keira Knightley in the feature Never Let Me Go. Since then she has appeared in Kick-Ass 2 and Maleficent, and leading roles in the films The Intruders opposite Clive Owen, Ways to Live Forever and Wildlike. In 2016 she will be seen playing the young Margot Robbie in Tarzan for Warner Bros, The Journey is the Destination opposite Ben Schnetzer and Kelly Macdonald, the British independent film Access All Areas and as one of the leads in Tim Burton's new film Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children.

She is the publicist and face of the non-profit organisation Educate2Eradicate which aims to educate young people about the horrors of honour based violence. She is also campaigning with the public benefit organization Youth for Change to review FGM and child marriage training for school staff.

She has worked closely with Creative Visions since 2015 and is also chairperson of the Influential Young Activists Movement, which aims to encourage young celebrities to use their voices for positive influence.

She has been teaching children in maths, English, dance, drama, singing and piano since she was 13 and feels very strongly about educating the underprivileged youth about mental health, social relationships, professional skills, personal development and helping them realise their own creative ability.

She continues her philanthropic work with children and teenagers focusing on education, mental health, honour based violence, women's rights and creative activism, whilst maintaining her acting career.

Links:
twitter.com/Ella_Purnell
facebook.com/purnelephant
instagram.com/ella_purnell