Hollywood actress Ella Purnell is currently leading the Starz TV show, Sweetpea. The actress essays the role of a woman who is battling trauma from bullying in school, loss of her father and is constantly looking for her place in the world. Her trauma takes a dark turn when she confronts her bully after several years, only to be publicly shamed. Frustrated, she hides herself in a canal passage and feels intimidated by a stranger again. Frustrated, she slashes his throat, stabs him multiple times and kills him. This unleashes a monster.
Through the series, we see her trying to take a stand for herself but at the cost of a few killings. News18 Showsha sat down for a quick chat with Ella to talk about the series and she confessed that characters like Dexter and Villanelle from Killing Eve influenced her approach to her character in the series.
“Dexter is the obvious place to start, probably more on the impact of his character. We were trying to achieve a similar thing that they did in the show. We wanted the audience to feel conflicted morally about how they feel about Rhiannon, relate to her emotions, and feel empathy for her without necessarily relating to her actions. So that’s a good place to start,” Ella said.
“You know there isn’t a ton of female serial killers. Villanelle from Killing Eve (played by Jodie Comer) is another one. She was quite playful and childish. There were moments of Villanelle that came out in Rhiannon but not too many. Definitely in the second half of the series when Rhiannon starts to have more fun with it, I (channelled a little of her). I also loved Killing Eve, I think Villanelle is one of the greatest characters ever written in cinema history – I’m a big fan of Jodie Comer,” she added.
Sweetpea sheds light not only on subjects like bullying and trauma, but Ella believes that if we set aside the murders, it is a sweet coming-of-age series.
“There are so many different themes in Sweetpea to pull from. There is a little bit for everyone. It is a story about bullying, yes, in a broader sense, I’d say childhood trauma and maybe the inability to move on or process what has happened. It’s about morality, identity, grief, it’s a story of loss. But on the other side of it, it’s a story of coming-of-age. If you takeaway the murders, it is a sweet coming-of-age story about a young woman who is finding her voice and learning to stand up for herself,” she said.
Sweetpea premiered last week and streams on JioCinema in India.
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