'Patience's Ella Maisy Purvis on Authenticity, Representation & Season 2

Patience, an adaptation of the popular French series Astrid, is the newest drama in PBS’ primetime Sunday night lineup. Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) is a brilliant young woman on the spectrum whose keen eye and unique perspective make her a valuable asset to DI Beatrice Metcalf (Laura Fraser). Patience splits her time between her predictable job in the criminal records department and the wildly variable world of detective police work, where she fosters confidence, broadens her horizons, and develops a friendship she didn’t expect.

Patience is brought to life by the effervescent and effortlessly charming Purvis, who is a delight both on and off screen. When we speak, she has just come off set from filming the already greenlit Season 2. (Yes, Virginia, there is a second season!) Still in costume, she looks every bit the part – but where Patience is restrained and quiet, Purvis is wonderfully loquacious and open. A relative newcomer, this is her first starring role, and it is undoubtedly a breakout performance.

Purvis points out that the show “does a fantastic job at representing Patience, and Patience’s life, and the way Patience experiences the world,” stressing the importance of individuality. “What I’ve tried to emphasize, talking to people, is: if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. This is one perspective.”

Much of the press surrounding Patience focuses on the authenticity of the storytelling, both in front of and behind the scenes. I wondered what Purvis thought about neurotypical actors playing neurodiverse characters, as was the case in Astrid.

“It’s about opportunities and authentic casting,” Purvis tells us. “Why wouldn’t you want the person with the lived experience? It’s not what you see, hear, shiny on the screen. It’s everything that comes underneath it. It’s giving someone from an underrepresented group an opportunity. It’s about trusting this person, giving them agency in a way that society doesn’t. Fundamentally, our brains, my brain included, are completely different from those of someone who is neurotypical. If you hired a neurotypical actor, they might do a fantastic job. No one’s saying they won’t. But [with a neurodiverse actor] you get the extra free little bits, you know?”

Purvis admires Patience and how she was crafted as a character. “What’s fantastic is she has a lot of agency, and she’s f**king smart, man. [I love] her ruthless work ethic, determination, and capability to love so much. She loves her work, her animals, and her routine. She’s generous with her information.” (Info dumping is Patience’s love language.) Purvis also praises the connections shown in the series. “Especially in Season 2, [the show] models some really healthy relationships.”

Patience has her own idiosyncrasies, but one that drives Purvis a little bonkers is the ubiquitous presence of her headphones. “I cannot stand always having something around my neck. I can't do it! Let your neck breathe! There’s a little joke on set: It's like, oh, Patience is in the shower -- she's got her headphones on, though! Just like bizarre situations…don't forget her headphones!”

We bond over animals as Purvis clocks the cat tower behind me, whipping out her phone and asking if I want to see a picture of her cat. (The answer here at Telly Visions is always yes.) One adorable floof photo later, she then shows me the tattoo of the cat’s name (Honey) just above her knee.

An animal lover like Patience, Purvis was thrilled about her fuzzy (and scaled) co-stars. “Tomorrow we are handling the mice!” she exclaims excitedly. I am told the bearded dragon is named Rex, and he stole the show for her.

Purvis also enjoys bugs and birds, and believes many autistic people, including herself, tend to prefer cats in particular. “It’s like my terms, your terms, you know?” As for Divina, the cat on set? “She was such a diva!” Purvis laughs. “You think, ‘it’s an actor cat,’ and expect them to be [cooperative], right? She’d look straight down the lens and just throw up.”

Like many actors, Purvis draws huge inspiration from her wardrobe to get into character. “Once I put on the outfit, I'm like, there we go. She's back. She's back, everyone! It’s the matching socks, it's the belt, it's the shoes. I put it on and it’s like, I'm home!” Not to mention the sweater vests – Patience loves a vest.

Acting happened “by accident” and was not the original intention: Purvis was a “pretty serious” dancer, set to pursue ballet professionally. But when lockdown happened, she suddenly discovered she hated it. “I don't know why I've spent my life doing this. What's going on? Then it was like a literal switch. ‘I’m not gonna become a ballet dancer, so, right, I’ll become an actor then.’” She consumed all the plays in her school’s “cupboard drama library,” which literally smelled of old socks and doubled as a janitor's closet. She began landing roles shortly after drama school and finds her success and the sudden attention “a little bit weird.”

Before Patience, Purvis played two roles in A Kind of Spark, portraying 16th-century Elinor in Season 1 and modern-day Bonnie in Season 2. That show also centers on a young woman with autism, is positively adorable, and well worth seeking out. Purvis mentions that playing the secretly autistic Elinor prepared her for the role of Patience, both because of similar character traits, but also in terms of how to be an actor. 

“I’d not really been on a set longer than a month. Doing the first season was a long shoot. I sort of learned from Season 2 what I needed to be able to function. How much water I needed to drink, how much sleep I needed to get. It was a learning curve, and [now] I feel very prepared on [Patience] Season 2.”

As we wrap, she warns me not to give her the opportunity to just say anything, because she will “always be inappropriate.” Then she sips from her water bottle, and with a grin and a glint in her eye, jokes, “This isn’t water…”

Catch more of Purvis as Season 1 of Patience continues Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS, the PBS App, PBS Passport, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. All six episodes are available for members to stream on PBS Passport starting from premiere day. Season 2 is already filming and is expected to arrive on Channel 4 in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. in 2026.