When Killing Eve ended, many fans expressed their frustration with how the series concluded – and Jodie Comer has now reflected on this, revealing that she instead “reverts to the memory” of making the show.
The US drama, in which British actor Comer played Russian assassin Villanelle, received huge acclaim for its debut season. But the final episode received a backlash from dedicated fans, with some calling it “the worst finale since Game of Thrones”.
Much of the anger surrounded the fact that Villanelle was killed off in the closing moments, despite a happy romantic ending being teased for her and Sandra Oh’s character, Eve Polastri, throughout the final season.
open image in galleryComer acknowledged the fan outcry in The Independent series Life in Pictures, stating: “I think as an actor you just have to have your blinkers on in a sense. Of course, you want people to be fulfilled or happy – they’ve spent such a long time with your story and your character, you know?
“You want them to feel satisfied in some way, but it’s always ultimately out of your control, so it’s tricky really.”
However, Comer, who won an Emmy for the series, said that she chooses to look back at her time making the show when thinking about its legacy.
“I always revert back to the memory of being on the set and working with the crew, and people worked so tirelessly to honour that moment,” she commented.
When the series finale aired in 2022, writer Laura Neal said killing off Villanelle had been “really difficult to find the best ending”, and claimed the show’s team “talked about it loads”.
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Comer herself told Elle at the time “It would have been easy for it to feel very maudlin, I think, or to go completely the other direction and make it feel too funny. So striking the right balance between the two of them felt really important.”
Comer said her character’s death was “inevitable”, adding: “She’s like a cat with nine lives. What I loved about the moment [she gets shot] was that was a really selfless act that she did that caused it.
“It felt right that in that moment she protected Eve. There was something about that shielding, I think, that signified how much she had changed.
“She was trying so desperately to change at the beginning and I don’t think she ever realised how much she had, which is so sad. That moment really shows how Eve changed her life.”
open image in galleryThe following year, Comer told interviewer Josh Horowitz that she anticipated “a mixed reaction” and admitted that she doesn’t like to think of Villanelle “floating around the River Thames”, joking: “Perhaps she crawled out.”
Watch The Independent’s full interview with Comer here. The actor can currently be seen in Hugh Jackman film The Death of Robin Hood, which is in cinemas now.