It’s teatime at the ELLE cover shoot, and Jodie Comer is eating chocolate cake. Not that this is remarkable in itself – it’s a delicious cake – but as she’s called for the next look, she takes one last bite and jokes about wiping her chocolatey hands on the pristine Prada dress she’s wearing: ‘That would be a Villanelle thing to do,’ she says, turning on her heels, her accent pure Scouse, and surprisingly un-Villanelle.
It’s the part of a crazed, Molly Goddard-wearing assassin that catapulted 26-year-old Jodie Comer into the spotlight, not just here but in the US, where Killing Eve, written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag fame, was first aired to rapturous reviews. The show’s success has led to big Hollywood parts for Jodie; next up she’ll star alongside Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot in the remake of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, and then opposite Ryan Reynolds in sci-fi action film Free Guy.
But she hasn’t yet succumbed to LA life and has never had any formal acting training; she still lives with her parents (her father is a sports massage therapist for Everton FC and her mother works for Merseytravel) in Liverpool. It was there, at a local drama and dance workshop, that she first got into performing.
Aged 12, she got chucked out of a girl group, due to perform at a school talent show, for missing rehearsals. She performed a monologue instead, which got her noticed by her drama teacher, who put her forward for a BBC Radio 4 play – her first acting job.
Hollywood roles aside, it’s the second season of Killing Eve we’ve all been waiting for. It promises to be even darker than the first, which was one of the BBC’s most-watched shows of 2018, pulling in 1.25 million viewers for its finale and inspiring memes, column inches and Halloween costumes.
The show, which also stars Sandra Oh as MI5 agent Eve Polastri and Fiona Shaw as her boss, stands out not just for its complex female leads – so likeable and yet so psychotic – but for the amazing band of women involved. ‘I did have a moment last year at the Critics’ Choice Awards. I was with Phoebe, Sandra and Fiona and I was like, “This is so fucking cool,”’ says Jodie. ‘To be on set not just with women, but these women in particular – being encouraged by them, learning from them and laughing with them – it’s just special.’
This is why, for this sisterhood-focused Modern Love Issue, we asked Phoebe to interview Jodie. The pair first met at the BAFTAs in 2017, when Phoebe took home an award for Fleabag and Jodie was nominated for her role as kidnapped teenager Ivy Moxam in the hit BBC drama Thirteen. Both had admired each other’s work from afar: Phoebe had watched Jodie in her first big TV series My Mad Fat Diary, and Jodie was a fan of Fleabag: ‘I was trying not to freak out because I loved her show, so I was trying to be cool,’ she recalls. They ended up drinking wine in each other’s hotel rooms – first Jodie’s, then Phoebe’s – after being told to ‘pipe down’ by security for being too noisy.
This isn’t hard to imagine. In between interview questions there’s a lot of laughter as they spark off each other. Jodie calls Phoebe ‘Pheebs’, asking her to ‘be gentle with me’ before they begin, to which Phoebe gives an evil ‘mwahaha’ cackle and starts her line of questioning, covering everything from the dark corners of our minds to shedding insecurities, and why Sandra Oh wants to get inside other women’s vaginas.
PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE: Jodie, you’re on the cover! I feel quite a big responsibility. So I’m asking the questions… Jodie Comer, what was your first-ever job? And what was the job that changed the tide for you?
JODIE COMER: My first TV job was an episode of hospital drama The Royal Today when I was 14. But I think Killing Eve is definitely the role that has changed things for me. I don’t feel like there’s a show like this, or a character like Villanelle, who breaks so many rules.
PWB: Correct answer! Thank you very much.
JC: She paid me to say that!
PWB: You’ve played quite morally ambiguous characters who have a darker side to them, such as with Doctor Foster [Jodie played a twenty-something girl who has an affair with her parents’ friend]. You’ve said that people would say, ‘She’s the b*tch’ and would be rude to you about her. Are you drawn to that? Or are people just drawn to that in you?
JC: I relish it. I think it’s fun getting people roused up, so then when they meet you, they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re not a b*tch or a homewrecker.’ It’s fun to see people have gone with it and they’ve believed it.
PWB: Do you feel it’s ironic that the most brutal and murderous character you’ve played is the one that’s been received with the most love?
JC: The thing is, she could easily be just a murderous villain, but there are so many loveable qualities about her. When I first read the script and I read ‘assassin’, I thought, ‘Ah, f*ck, I’m not an assassin’ – the stereotype of what a female assassin is – and I felt a bit deflated. But I related to Villanelle. There were so many moments from scene one, such as when she flicks the ice cream on that six-year-old. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve wanted to do this so many times but I never have.’ I strangely respect it, the dark corners of our minds that we have to bring to the forefront.
PWB: Through the writing process, what I found really liberating with her was that she’s not ruled by her insecurities. I feel like it’s such a human thing to be ruled by your insecurities, particularly for women.
JC: You’re right, she doesn’t care what people think, and as much as I don’t like to admit it, I really do. In order to play her, I had to really shed that from myself. There’s something about her honesty that I admire.
I feel like now I’m much more honest with myself, with people in my life.
PWB: Was there a moment when you realised, ‘I want to be an actor’?
JC: I remember doing a drama festival in Liverpool, and that was the first time my dad had seen me act. The monologue I did was quite emotional. It was by a local playwright about a young girl on the year anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. I remember doing it and seeing his face, and him being so taken aback. The thrill of doing the festival and coming first – I got such a buzz. Then the BBC sent a request to all the local schools for a BBC Radio 4 drama. I was 12 or 13 at the time, and my drama teacher sent me and another girl from my year. That was my first-ever job. It was so much fun and the first realisation that I could do this all the time.
PWB: It sounds like it happened quite organically. You are an anomaly in so many ways, because you’re 26 and yet you’re 2,OOO at the same time; you have this wisdom and self-assurance that only trees have.
JC: [laughing] Ah, I’m a tree!
PWB: But you also express this powerful beauty. Every single person who works with you wants to talk about how wonderful you are to work with, and how the set comes alive with joy and lightness when you’re there. That’s also something that comes from inside of you, there’s a goodness and a fierce work ethic, without any ego. I want to know when it was you realised you were so fantastic?
JC: Shut up! [Phoebe makes an evil laughing sound in the background]. Do you know what’s played a massive part in that? My mum and dad – they’ve always been so ridiculously supportive, but also said, ‘This is your journey, this is all down to you.’
PWB: There’s a kind of feminine energy in the industry right now, which is exciting. With Killing Eve, Sandra Oh was the first on board. I wrote her this love letter that was a little bit over the top, but she wrote back to me and said, ‘I want to talk about your heart, your vagina and your ideas.’ She said, ‘When I work with women, I want to live in their vagina for the year.’ I was like, ‘The door is wide open, Sandra, please come running in. Welcome.’
People say it trickles down from the top, the energy of a whole set, and it did with her. There’s a certain type of power you feel when you’ve got like-minded women together, trying to expose all the same vulnerabilities of women, there’s something knowing about it. Jodie, you had worked on quite a few female-led shows before?
JC: The past five projects I’ve been a part of have all been written by women and I’m very aware that’s rare, but that’s something I want to continue and be conscious of and seek out.
PWB: I’m now going to ask a creepy question, which is going to relate in some way to the bigger picture, but what are you wearing right now?
JC: Oh, God. I’m wearing my activewear because I’m going to the gym.
PWB: In Killing Eve, fashion has a huge personality. Has Villanelle’s way of dressing changed the way you see clothes or the way that you dress?
JC: I wish I was as bold as her. What I love about Villanelle is that she has a particular style. I feel like if you look through her wardrobe, there’s a definite theme running through it. I’m definitely a jeans girl, which I think she’s absolutely not. I’ve also retired from heels at the age of 26… The range of dance moves you can do in a flat shoe.
PWB: You can get a much better lunge. Do you remember in Cannes when there was that after-party with a dancefloor and a funky DJ who was having a party all on his own? I think it was you, Jodie, who was like, ‘C’mon, it’s time.’ We broke a sweat, you, me and Sandra.
We actually got people on the dancefloor. And now for my last question. In this era of women being open about shit, and the fact that Villanelle has no insecurities, what are yours?
JC: A big thing is trying to accept that, with acting, the reason for getting a part or not getting a part isn’t always about your talent or how talented people think you are; a lot of it is about your looks. Always worrying about the way you look or your weight for certain roles – that has always been a big insecurity of mine. I used to hate my teeth when I was younger. My whole teens, I pouted in every photograph; there are so many pictures where I’m doing the biggest duck face because I had a chip in my teeth after diving into a children’s swimming pool.
Growing up as a teen, I always struggled with my weight and body image. What I’m trying to do – and I feel like I’m succeeding a little bit in – is be accepting of the fact that… I always put a stress on myself having to look a certain way, when you are who you are. Your ability to act, or whatever your job is, is worth so much more than how you look.
PWB: The pressure is real. But at the same time, even you saying that – you, the most extraordinary, perfect human being on the planet, inside and out – is reassuring, because it shows that it’s a mental state most women find themselves in, rather than actually being something that’s important. I feel like when I’m on set working with people I love, with my head in the work, all those things fall away. I stop caring about any of that shit.
When women are given the chance to really work or really have a character that goes deeper than skin deep, then it suddenly all disappears. That’s how I realised why men don’t worry about this kind of thing – they have just been really busy doing great jobs forever.
JC: I’ve always, always felt more confident within my acting than within myself. I feel like I believe in myself more within my work. I would love if you could write me roles for the rest of my life, what do you think about that? Are you up for that?
PWB: I’ve already got a part I haven’t told you about. It’s this one scene; this one character – I can see her so clearly and it’s so exciting in my head. But it’s you! Your face inspired this scene and this nuttiness.
JC: Would you say I’m a nutty person? I quite like that. I’ve never been called that before.
PWB: You inspired nuttiness in the scene. It’s a really rare feeling when you know there’s an actor you can work with who can literally do anything. It already feels dangerous and exciting.
JC: I have to say I am super-excited about the fact that I’m going to be coming to see you doing Fleabag on Broadway! I’m hoping that we could do some dancing after that.
PWB: Oh my God, are you kidding?! In my flat, you and me, baby.
JC: In our activewear.
PWB: That actually sounds like heaven.
