Ella Purnell talks going from "newborn baby" to "bruised and battered" in Fallout season 2: "She still chooses to believe in good"

Ella Purnell as Lucy in Fallout season 2 — (Image credit: Prime Video)

Fallout season 2 star Ella Purnell says it was easier playing Lucy this time around, as she's become much more relatable as a character.

"It sort of felt like a more neutral starting point for me," Purnell tells GamesRadar+. "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."

In Fallout season 1, we meet Lucy as a naive, overly optimistic vault dweller who has never been to the surface. After her new husband ends up being a raider from the surface, she ends up kicking his butt in her wedding dress – and mustering up enough strength to leave the vault in order to save her kidnapped father, Hank (Kyle MacLachlan). She quickly learns that the Wasteland is ruthless. Post-apocalyptic America is bleak and unforgiving, which is a slap in the face at first. By season 2, however, Lucy is a pro at navigating this unsafe world – and she has far less patience for the people and things that hurt her.

Continues Purnell: "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."

Fallout season 2 sees Lucy team up with the Ghoul (willingly this time) in order to locate her father... and bring him to justice. Rather than be distraught by the fact that Hank is a villain, she soldiers on across the horizon and into New Vegas, where new dangers await. Get ready for deathclaws, legions, flea soup, and some seriously misinterpreted history. We won't give anything away, but from the very first episode... we can see how much the Wasteland has changed Lucy, and she's all the better for it (and also very badass).

"But with that, because it's more, I suppose, relatable, it then becomes more complex, because there's all of these emotions underneath," Purnell explains. "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."