Being on a film set for half of any given year has a way of taking one’s finger off the pulse of pop culture, even if one is filming with a direct conduit to the zeitgeist. Such as it went for Ella Purnell, who recently emerged from her professional cocoon as Prime Video’s Fallout wrapped production for Season 2. Despite working alongside Walton Goggins during that stretch, the actress apparently remained blind to the notion that her co-star became a bonafide sex symbol.
To be sure, fans have been lusting after Goggins for years, with his role as Justified’s Boyd Crowder as a particularly successful thirst-mongering character. But it was arguably his turn as Fallout’s antagonistic semi-monster The Ghoul that brought worldwide attention to the Alabama native’s signature drawl and swagger, and the adoration only grew with his White Lotus role, as well as his occasional sorta-nude appearances on The Righteous Gemstones.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight during Amazon’s advertising upfronts event, Ella Purnell was asked for her take on Goggins’ status as a heartthrob sex symbol, and bless the Yellowjackets vet’s heart, she somehow missed that memo. But she did explain why that idea makes sense to her, saying:
I was unaware of this status, but it tracks. I think a lot of people think the Ghoul is hot. That’s what I read on the Internet.
Purnell confirmed that the second season of the upcoming video game adaptation had been filming for six months or longer, and talked in the past about some of the reasons why it was a complicated shoot, with talks of poop-fingers. But it doesn’t sound like she had to deal with Walton Goggins strutting around the set like a Casanova while enjoying his newfound distinction as a TV hunk whose receding hairline is as much a part of the appeal as anything else.
I’m amused that Purnell has figured out that The Ghoul became a magnet for online thirst after Fallout’s first season went live in 2023, but somehow missed all the same signs pointing to the actor himself. Or maybe she just assumed that comments being made specifically about Goggins were also being applied to his noseless character. (Would also love to know if she went down any weird online rabbit holes where that's concerned.)
In any case, the Sweetpea actress seemingly missed the memo due to her pronounced lack of an online presence, both while in the midst of shooting a project and even beyond. Purnell explained why she recently jumped off of Instagram and why it’s not new behavior for her, saying:
I’ve been really off the grid. I deleted Instagram. It was a long, heavy shoot. So I’m in my hibernation era. . . . I just need a rest. I always try to create a rest period after I finish filming, and that includes just, like, everything.
I have to think that the situation will be slightly different filming future seasons now that Amazon has confirmed Fallout was renewed for Season 3 well before Season 2's December premiere date. By the time production gets underway again, Goggins might very well have already taken the top spot in People's Sexiest Men Alive issue.
Fallout Season 2 is set to debut on Prime Video in December 2025, with an exact premiere date yet to be announced.
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