Jodie Comer on playing the chicest (and cheekiest) assassin on TV
Jodie Comer asserts that she is a girl who looks good in jeans and T-shirts. I'm lazy," she professes. It sounds like an impossible lie. It could only come from someone as cunning as Villanelle from Killing Eve. A world-traveling, multilingual, perfectly groomed psychopath with a penchant for murder and not a nice outfit to die for.
Comer promises not to have the fashion flair of Villanelle, but she must be as much of a chameleon as her on-screen counterpart. That's because for the past several years (opens in new tab), the actress has disguised herself perfectly on the red carpet, at high-fashion editorial shoots, and on set as TV's chicest hitwoman. In real life, Comer has a more down-to-earth style and a more approachable personality.
"My fashion now is gym clothes, pajamas, and sometimes half and half. I see a lot of videos and Instagrams of people saying, 'Why don't you just get dressed and do your makeup,' and I'm like, 'Ugh. I can't wear jeans in the house."
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The 27-year-old told me as we chatted a few days before the season 3 premiere of "Killing Eve" (opens in new tab) that she was quarantined at her parents' house in Liverpool. Playing Villanelle (who has countless aliases, including Oksana, depending on the scene), Comer won an Emmy last year, cementing her status as the most fashionable woman on television since Carrie Bradshaw.
Villanelle's costumes have an instantly iconic quality that is hard to come by. The assassin injects (a great deal of) cheekiness and creativity into both her kills and her wardrobe. 'There's an innate sense of style [in Villanelle]. I think she has very few rules. She wears what she wants to wear," Comer said, adding that the show's creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (opens in new tab), incorporated Villanelle's penchant for designer labels into the character. 'Her materialistic side was a big part of it. Clothing was self-expression. She found joy in it. [It was her outlet. It's her reward and her expression of herself. So it was always an important element for her."
Half of Comer's character finds herself in haute couture, while the other half, Oksana, finds herself in a Russian prison. The opposites influence Villanelle, prompting her obsession with luxury and wealth and stirring her impeccably tailored Chloé suits and Comme des Garcons jackets.
"I think Oksana was a scoundrel, I think Oksana was a badass," Comer says. I don't know if she ever thought about fashion, but when she got into this lifestyle, it filled a void. That's where the interest [in fashion] and the need grew."
"To me, Villanelle is a creation. She is her own creation and her own expectation of herself. So (Oksana) is constantly slipping and coming to the surface. It's like two personalities: the real me and the me that I expect from myself and others."
Oksana wears a costume to try to convince the world that he is that character. It is the ultimate manifestation of dressing for the job one wants: if you are going to commit murder, you might as well dress to kill.
The enviable wardrobe is thanks to the talented costume designer of Killing Eve. This season, Sam Perry took over for Phoebe de Gay (season 1) and Charlotte Mitchell (season 2) to complete Villanelle's playful look and flamboyant style.
"Sam only sees it as a playground. Perry has stated that he plans to take charge of Season 4 as well.
Villanelle's daily wardrobe is full of stunning prints and standout silhouettes that seamlessly blend masculinity and femininity, and it's hard not to notice her luxurious at-home style in her printed robes and colorful silk pajamas It's hard not to. This is when Villanelle has to wear the most laugh-out-loud, striking outfits in this series. Yes, even the crocs.
"I love the moments when she has to wear someone else's pajamas that don't suit her. I want to put her in a difficult situation as much as possible," he says, with just a hint of Villanelle's villainy." She seems very together to me." "When I throw her out of her comfort zone, it feels so right."
In Season 3, Comer will have her greatest opportunity to date to see Villanelle pushed to the limits of her attire (opens in new tab). In episode 5, she faces the ghosts of her past. However, this character arc posed a dilemma for Perry, Comer, and the show's team.
"What happened in episode 5 will change her a lot in the rest of the series. And we had a big decision to make: was she so lost that she completely lost the fashion element of what she was wearing, or was she going to be okay and appear to be her normal self? And we chose the latter."
But whatever Villanelle wears, be it a dramatic headpiece or a pig mask, it is Villanelle's confidence that sells it, and it is her practicality that grounds it, Comer suggests. Literally. I am referring, of course, to her shoes. Villanelle pairs her Molly Godard statement with Doc Martens (opens in new tab) and white Miu Miu trainers.
"There was no way she was going to kill it in six-inch heels. Every time I see that in a movie, I wonder if that's really possible," Comer says. Comfort is key at Villanelle. Comfort is key at Villanelle. Let's wear something really cool, but let's also wear shoes that do all these things and make us feel confident."
As we were ending our conversation, I asked Comer about his favorite items in his own wardrobe.
"I have a pair of Grenson boots. It's a London-based bootmaker, and the shoes are Nanette (open in new tab). [sort of like ankle biker boots. But you can wear them with anything, probably too much. But they're very comfortable and very light. It's an item I wear to death."
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