Ella Purnell: Lucy's Journey from Innocent to Battle-Hardened Survivor

Actress Ella Purnell found portraying her character Lucy much more manageable during the second season of Fallout, explaining that the vault dweller's evolution made her significantly more relatable. "It sort of felt like a more neutral starting point for me," Purnell shared in a recent interview. "Season 1, I had to sort of really tap into an innocence, and a childishness, and a vulnerability that comes from inexperience, and being literally sheltered. She's a newborn baby or an alien that's just landed on Earth, and she's never experienced anything. And there's some big reaches to be had for that. It's much harder to relate to that."

From Vault Dweller to Wasteland Warrior

The first season introduced audiences to Lucy as an extremely naive and overly positive resident of an underground vault who had never set foot on the surface world. Her life took a dramatic turn when her new spouse turned out to be a surface raider, leading to a confrontation where she defeated him while still wearing her wedding gown. This event sparked her determination to leave the safety of her underground home to rescue her abducted father, Hank, played by Kyle MacLachlan.

The harsh realities of the Wasteland hit Lucy hard initially. The post-nuclear American landscape proved to be merciless and brutal, delivering a shocking wake-up call to someone who had lived such a protected existence.

A More Complex Character Arc

By the time the second season begins, Lucy has become skilled at surviving in this dangerous environment and shows much less tolerance for those who try to harm her. Purnell explained the difference: "This time around, I was going into, yes, she's still optimistic, believes in the golden rule, believes in people's inherent goodness, but she has been battered and bruised by this world and still chooses to believe in good. That feels much more similar to the human experience: just like being an adult who has to wake up every day and survive. So that was somewhat slightly easier."

The upcoming season shows Lucy partnering with the Ghoul voluntarily as they search for her father with the intention of bringing him to justice. Instead of being devastated by discovering Hank's villainous nature, she pushes forward across the wasteland toward New Vegas, where fresh threats await. The season promises encounters with deathclaws, various factions, questionable cuisine, and some seriously twisted historical interpretations.

The Strength to Keep Believing

While Lucy's growth made her easier to portray, Purnell notes that this development also brought new challenges. "But with that, because it's more, I suppose, relatable, it then becomes more complex, because there's all of these emotions underneath," she explained. "There's so much to unpack underneath and so many choices that you have to make every single day. The choice to continue to believe in goodness when you've been shown again and again how evil people can be, that's real strength. And that doesn't come from nothing, you know? That has to be really sought and found."

The second season of Fallout premieres on Prime Video December 17th, promising to showcase Lucy's continued transformation from sheltered innocent to capable survivor who maintains her moral compass despite everything she's endured.