[3][4] Powell is the daughter of Belgian pharmacologist Rudi Pauwels and clinical researcher Carine Claeys, who in 1994 were two of the co-founders of the biotech company Tibotec.
[7] Powell started her career in a short student film For Elsie, where she played the role of Mila, a mobster's daughter who wants to learn the piano in one day.
[11] [12] The Hollywood Reporter, on the other hand, criticized her performance as "ineffective.. failing to convey any traces of the suffering her character has obviously endured.
[16][17] In August 2016, Powell was cast to star in the Freeform series Siren playing Ryn, a feral mermaid who comes to a small coastal village in search of her sister.
"[26] The Tampa Bay Times praised her performance as one of "Siren's biggest strengths" (the other was its Pacific Northwest setting.