I haven’t broken the US yet… they think I’m a Scot, says Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer
JODIE COMER is a household name here thanks to her lead role in Killing Eve – but that is not quite the case in the US.
In fact, the Scouser says most Americans think she is Scottish.
Jodie, 29, says the few Americans who do recognise her accent only know it because of The Beatles.
Darkly comic TV thriller Killing Eve — whose writers include Phoebe Waller-Bridge — has captivated millions and catapulted Jodie to stardom since the first series aired in 2018.
But she laughed off the suggestion she is now a global sensation, saying: “People in America think I’m Scottish, or they just think . . . The Beatles! It’s very different there.
Jodie has now filmed the fourth and final run of the hit drama, which follows a tense cat-and-mouse game between assassin character Villanelle and Sandra Oh as former spook Eve.
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But Jodie admitted that after jumping at the chance to play Villanelle, initially she struggled with the role and was “a fish out of water” on set.
She told how co-stars Sandra, Harriet Walter (Dasha) and Fiona Shaw (Carolyn Martens) helped her through, creating a strong, unspoken bond between the women.
Remembering her first script for the show, Jodie said: “I was sent the first episode and I’d seen Phoebe’s name and I’d seen Fleabag — which I adored — and I thought, ‘Ooh, what is this gonna be?’
"I was like a fish out of water when it started. Villanelle had already been created (as a comic novella), but I had to let go of my insecurities and throw myself into it. So the character was moulded as we went along.
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“Saying goodbye to her is crazy. It’s really, really crazy, because it’s been so long.
“And the wonderful thing about that show was the people. A lot of the same crew came back every year.
“There was a familiarity to that and a comfort. The women I’ve worked with — Harriet, Fiona and Sandra — have encouraged me in so many ways and given me so much invaluable advice.
“There’s just a connection, which is unspoken a lot of the time, but is also very present.”
She added: “I’ve worked with such incredible women. To be on a show like Killing Eve, which is the essence of that, has shaped me in a real way. I’ve been lucky that a lot of the women I’ve played have been so fully fleshed out that now it’s set the bar.”
Jodie — who won an Emmy and a Bafta for her role as Villanelle — has gone on to star as a Liverpudlian care-giver working in the pandemic in hard-hitting 2021 TV drama Help.
She defended her choice to take on the political project — just one year after the outbreak of Coronavirus turned the world on its head.
Explaining what draws her to an acting part, she said: “You want to take roles to work with people who you admire, people you’re going to learn from and be inspired by.
“But I feel like you can’t overlook what it is that you can bring to the piece, to the character.
“You never want to do yourself a disservice in that way. Always make sure you know what the challenge is for you.”
She went on: “I know there were people who said (about Help), ‘Oh, it’s too soon’ and that’s fine, I respect that.
“If it is too soon for people then they absolutely shouldn’t have to watch it. But also, in a sense, there’s no time like the present. That’s the beauty of drama.
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“Even though it’s uncomfortable and confronting, it’s an insight into what someone else went through and is still going through.
"Help was the first project I did that was political and really had something to say. And I really enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate a woman from Liverpool.”
Jodie — who is dating American lacrosse player James Burke — has also made the leap to the big screen with recent major movies Free Guy and The Last Duel.
And she will make her West End debut this year with one-woman show Prima Facie, which follows a female barrister victim of sexual assault.
Despite her net worth of an estimated £4.5million, Jodie still lives at her childhood home in Liverpool with her parents and younger brother.
She admitted in an interview that while she is looking to move out, she would live with her parents until she was “old and grey” if she could.
And Jodie has told how while she doesn’t want to get “too comfortable” in what she is doing, she is embracing feeling more steady.
She said: “You’ll always have a moment when you walk into a room and think, ‘Oh wow, how did I get here?’ I hope I never get too comfortable.
“It’s nice to have those moments, but I definitely feel more steady in myself now. I feel it more in the publicity side . . . when you’re having to be yourself, instead of being on set.”
Jodie — who is in rehearsals for Prima Facie — described the play’s material as “so present and upsetting”.
But while she insisted she has not had any bad experiences, she said the #MeToo movement has made a difference to her by giving her the courage to set her own boundaries.
She said: “I’ve noticed a change in myself and what I’m comfortable and not comfortable with, and the ability to be vocal about it.
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" I wish I had found that earlier, but you have to go through your own experiences in life, so that’s how I feel the change.
“But I haven’t had any awful experiences to speak of. I’ve been extremely lucky.”
