Killing Eve actress Jodie Comer says men fear her after she played remorseless assassin Villanelle
HER performance as cold-blooded bisexual assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve has made her one of the most recognisable faces on TV.
But Jodie Comer says playing a psychopathic killer who takes sadistic pleasure in shooting, stabbing or poisoning her victims has its drawbacks — as men can be terrified when they meet her.
The 25-year-old actress has revealed that she is newly single. But with the second series of Killing Eve starting on BBC1 next month, she admitted she may struggle to find a new man.
She said: “Villanelle has issues and she has no remorse. She sees killing people as her job — she is good at it and she gets so much from the kills. Obviously she does things I would never dream of doing as she has no moral compass.”
She added: “I wanted people to be scared of her. But when I am introduced to men sometimes they are a little bit hesitant and yes, maybe they can be a bit frightened.
“But then when they meet me, they see the real me and it’s like, ‘Oh, she’s safe, she’s all good’.”
So what is the real Jodie like?
She said: “I am a home bird. There’s no place I would rather be than at home in my pyjamas watching the telly with my brother Charlie.
“That is my complete happy space. I watch a lot of reality television because I find it hard to commit to anything.
“Also, I am so clumsy. There was a scene in the first season where I had to flip out a knife in the bathroom and it took me about 15 tries to get it right.
“It’s a credit to the editors and directors for pulling it all together.”
Jodie’s recent break-up was with a long-term boyfriend from her home city of Liverpool. She has always refused to name her former love but said he was not in showbusiness.
She said: “I am very much work-focused at the minute.
“I feel like if I meet someone at the right time that would be great, but at the moment I am cool with just being by myself. It’s nice.
“I have had relationships, one in particular while growing up, where I probably felt in love. And it’s good, because it’s what I can incorporate into my work. You always have to kind of refer back to your emotions.”
The new series of Killing Eve starts on April 7 and fans are already working themselves into a fever of anticipation at what the scriptwriters have in store this time around.
The drama is based on Luke Jennings’s book Codename Villanelle and tells the story of MI5 officer Eve Polastri, played by American actress Sandra Oh, who is tasked with tracking down the beautiful but unhinged killer.
The two women become infatuated with each other during a violent chase across some of Europe’s most glamorous locations, including Paris, Tuscany, London and Berlin.
The last series ended on a knife-edge — literally — with Eve stabbing Villanelle in the stomach after luring her into bed at the end of a tense seduction scene.
Colourfully dressed in an orange top and bright-yellow flared trousers, Jodie is cheerful and friendly in the flesh.
She has a strong Scouse accent, and relies on a voice coach to help her speak Russian and French so fluently in the show.
But of course, she shares the infectious smile and beauty that gives Villanelle her ability to grab your attention.
Jodie said: “What I love about Villanelle is that she is many characters within one, and she has enabled me to hopefully show some versatility that people may not have expected from me.
“There has been such an overwhelming response to Killing Eve that when I meet people, they are enthusiastic about talking about it and they enjoy it so much. It’s been wonderful to have all sorts of conversations.
“Going to the set is so fulfilling because not every day is the same. There is always something thrown my way to challenge me. So I think I have really been able to grow and learn more about myself.”
Jodie’s public profile was quie low-key before Killing Eve started last year, although she had played Kate Parks in nine episodes of Doctor Foster and Elizabeth Of York in US miniseries The White Princess.
But playing Villanelle has led to worldwide fame, with media website Mashable dubbing her “the most terrifying TV villain”.
The downside of this rapid success is that she has been forced to spend long periods away from the childhood home she still shares with her parents and Charlie, 23.
Her mum Donna, 54, works for public transport body Merseytravel, and her dad James, 53, is a sports massage therapist for Everton FC.
Jodie said: “If I have a four-week period when I haven’t been back, I get homesick. Then I just have to go home for a couple of days and that kind of gets me back on track.
“We are a very close-knit family. I am away filming for a good majority of the year but my friends will come to visit me when I’m filming if there isn’t too much going on.
“But when it’s a full-time work schedule it can get quite intense. What is great about it is my family are not in the industry, so if I have questions or queries and have problems and have to make a decision about something, they are always there to listen and they have a different view on it all.
“It’s also sometimes nice to switch off. If I am working away a lot, I just want to come home and do normal stuff and get back to reality.
“It definitely keeps me grounded. A lot of people from Liverpool are home birds like me. They have a very big sense of pride about where they are from and family is extremely important.”
Emphasising her love of the place where she grew up, Everton fan Jodie added: “I love The Beatles, particularly George Harrison, who was my favourite Beatle.
There are so many Beatles tours in Liverpool that I’d like to do. They have a Beatles tribute in the Cavern Club that I am still trying to get the girls to go to when I can manage to get us all together.
“But God, Liverpool has changed so much since the days of The Beatles. It is wonderful, it’s really coming into its own, with a sense of culture and independent restaurants and bars.
“But I wasn’t born in the swinging Sixties and I envy those who were. That would have been fun.
“I go to Penny Lane all the time when I’m home. There’s a gorgeous wine bar on the corner and I have a lot of good memories with friends in there when we were growing up.”
Without giving away too many secrets, Jodie does drop a few hints about what season two of Killing Eve, pictured above right, has in store. She said: “What I love about Villanelle is that she is humorous and witty and I find humanity in her.
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“It’s these redeemable qualities that we all love about her. There are more hints about her past life in the next series and we explore her battle with her emotions and her morality.
“She has to get herself out of a situation she is not used to, with being out of control and being obsessed with another woman.
“We will pick up like, 30 seconds after Eve stabbed me at the end of season one.
“And we explore how the stabbing brings Eve and Villanelle together in a way that maybe neither of them was expecting.”
Additional reporting: JOHN HISCOCK