Jodie Comer Thought She Might ‘Never’ Do a Film Before ‘Free Guy’ With Ryan Reynolds
Jodie Comer has been acting for years, starting out in BBC radio shows and working in British series like My Mad Fat Diary and Doctor Foster. But it was when she booked the role of Villanelle in Killing Eve that she skyrocketed to fame in America, and carved a spot for herself as this eccentric, lovable assassin.
She’s still pretty young and at the start of her career, but after doing mostly television, she wasn’t sure she’d ever do movies.
Villanelle on ‘Killing Eve’ was such a big role, Jodie Comer wondered where she’d go next
Killing Eve premiered on BBC One in 2018 and then later on BBC America and AMC. Comer’s Villanelle had a pretty big part in the show, of course, as the assassin that Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) becomes obsessed with. Through three seasons, Villanelle goes from being without morals to showing a bit of remorse here and there. And through it all, she’s reeling audiences in.
Villanelle is charismatic, stylish, and makes audiences root for her even when she’s, you know, killing people. And Comer knows what a big role it is. But she also knows that it’s so massive that it might overshadow whatever she does after.
“Of course, I was so lucky that Villanelle was just one in a million,” Comer told Porter magazine for a cover story on Nov. 16. “That role is just so fabulous that I think people are like, ‘Well, where’s she gonna go from here?’”
However, she also doesn’t let that get to her too much.
“For me, the only person I have to answer to is myself,” Comer said. “So as long as I go into things with integrity and knowing why I did it, I think you just have to drown out the noise.”
There was a little bit of insecurity for Comer about sticking only to TV
For fans of Comer, they know that she’s already well at work on her next projects. The trailer for the movie Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds came out, and she plays Milly/Molotov Girl. Milly is a programmer in the game that Reynolds’ character Guy exists in, and her avatar Molotov Girl is a cooler version of herself inside said game.
But before she booked that, she told Porter magazine that she didn’t really see herself outside of television, as she knew that well.
“I had done television for so long, my insecurity was like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m a TV actress; maybe I’m never going to do film,’” Comer revealed. “And, years ago, maybe there was a clear divide, but now I don’t think there is.”
Comer said that Free Guy “felt enormous” and she “was intimidated by the grandeur” of the set and everything about the film. It was also more physical than she was used to on Killing Eve.
“But when I got into the rhythm of it, I realized that the people are the same, the morale is the same,” Comer said. “So you just do the process that you always do and prepare for the role you’re playing.”
On top of Free Guy, Comer just finished up filming on The Last Duel starring Adam Driver and Matt Damon. She’s set to play Marguerite de Carrouges, the wife to Damon’s Jean de Carrouges. It’s based on the real-life story of the last, officially recognized trial by combat in France. So it seems like more movies might be next on Comer’s horizon.
Her character in ‘Free Guy’ is different from Villanelle in 1, big stylistic way
Even though Villanelle and Molotov Girl are two completely different characters, with very different morals and goals, the core of how they operated are similar.
“Molotov Girl is an avatar created by Milly – it’s her dream, it’s her creation. That definitely had to be expressed; it couldn’t be a man’s ideal,” Comer told Porter. “That was a rule I had with Villanelle as well. When we first started out, Phoebe [Waller-Bridge, writer and showrunner for Season 1] was like, ‘This is real, this is practical, this is not gonna be silly.’”
However, when it comes to Villanelle, aside from her charismatic character, she’s so stylish. In her killings, but also in the way she dresses. She has some of the most fashionable and lively outfits on the show. So it was definitely a departure from that when Comer played Milly in Free Guy.
“When I had been doing Killing Eve and went back to Milly, who just wears jeans and T-shirts, I was like, ‘Where’s the amazing rail of clothes, guys?’” Comer joked.
Season 4 of Killing Eve was delayed and won’t start shooting until next June, so fans will have to wait a bit longer to see what fabulous outfits Villanelle will sport next.
