Shannon Purser (born June 27, 1997) is an American actress. She made her acting debut as Barb in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

drama series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

'' (2016–2017), for which she was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a gues ...

. Purser made her film debut in the supernatural horror film ''

Wish Upon ''Wish Upon'' is a 2017 American supernatural horror film, directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Barbara Marshall, and starring Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Sherilyn Fenn, Elisabeth Rohm, and Ryan Phillippe. The fil ...

'' (2017), and starred in the romantic comedy ''

Sierra Burgess Is a Loser ''Sierra Burgess Is a Loser'' is an American teen comedy-drama film directed by Ian Samuels from a screenplay by Lindsey Beer. The film is a modern retelling of the 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' by Edmond Rostand, and stars Shannon Purser, Kr ...

'' (2018). She also portrays the recurring role of

Ethel Muggs Ethel Muggs is a character frequently featured in Archie Comics. She is a student of Riverdale High School, sometimes known to her schoolmates by the nickname Big Ethel, though this nickname has largely fallen out of use since the 1980s. She w ...

in the CW teen drama series '' Riverdale'' (2017–present).

Early life

Purser was born on June 27, 1997, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. In 2016, Purser was attending

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

. She formerly worked at a movie theater in her hometown of

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2010 census, the city had a population of 88,346. The 2020 estimated population was 94,884, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A close suburb of Atla ...

, but quit in order to focus on acting.

Career

Purser made her acting debut in the

science fiction drama series ''

''. She portrayed the character Barbara Holland, an intelligent and outspoken girl, who is the best friend of

Nancy Wheeler Nancy Wheeler is a fictional character from the Netflix television show '' Stranger Things'', portrayed by Natalia Dyer. Nancy is the sister of Mike Wheeler, the girlfriend of Jonathan Byers, and the ex-girlfriend of Steve Harrington. Nancy ...

(

Natalia Dyer Natalia Danielle Dyer (born January 13, 1995) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Nancy Wheeler in the Netflix science fiction horror series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present), in addition to her starring role in the comedy-dr ...

). Despite her only being a minor character, several outlets called Barb one of their favorite characters. This role brought Purser to international fame, and earned her a nomination for the

. Purser portrays

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's teen drama series '' Riverdale''. In 2018, she played the titular role in the film ''

''. She had a minor role in the comedy film '' Life of the Party'', which ended up being cut. Purser played Annabelle Bowman, a member of the drama troupe at Stanton High, in the drama ''

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

,'' and read the audiobook of '' Leah on the Offbeat''.

Personal life

Purser is an amateur visual artist and musician. She has spoken about living with OCD, and regularly advocates for mental health and anxiety-awareness. On April 18, 2017, Purser came out as

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

in a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

post.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purser, Shannon 1997 births American film actresses American television actresses Bisexual actresses American bisexual actors LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) Living people Actresses from Atlanta 21st-century American women