Killing Eve star Jodie Comer revealed that she was initially hesitant about playing a female assassin on screen.
The BBC drama – an adaptation of Luke Jennings' Codename Villanelle and developed by Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge – sees her play Villanelle, a hired killer who’s currently on the run from MI5 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh). As the story continues, the pair become increasingly obsessed with each other.
Speaking to GQ, the actor said that she initially bristled at the words “female assassin”. She added: “I was like, ‘Oh, f**k no.’ Because I always think of someone in a leather catsuit and six-inch heels scaling walls.” She wondered: “How naked is she going to be?”
“I should have known better, knowing Phoebe was the writer,” Comer said.
The show, in reality, has been praised for its female-centric interpretation of the spy genre. Newsweek‘s Jen Glennon wrote that the second season was “full of compelling twists and wrinkles, but it’s the sly feminism at the heart of the show’s cat-and-mouse game that makes it all so infectiously fun.”
Killing Eve’s first season won three awards at the TV Baftas, including Best Drama Series, while Jodie Comer won Best Leading Actress and Fiona Shaw won Best Supporting Actress.
