Before season one of Killing Eve started filming, creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge and star Jodie Comer met at a restaurant to work out a backstory for Comer's character, Villanelle, a deadly (but stylish!) assassin. "We created a timeline and just threw ideas out there of what she could have gone through," Comer tells Glamour. "Why she is the way she is, or what may have happened." They decided she was in a home at some point but got kicked out for her behavior. And then, "We were like, 'Yeah, and she kills someone!'" Comer laughs at the memory. "We were throwing the craziest stuff at each other—I'm sure people were wondering [what was going on at our table]."
Now those diners would be leaning in, hoping to hear more about what's next for Villanelle. After the Emmy-nominated series debuted on BBC America last year, it became a hit with critics and fans alike. That's thanks to a winning combo of witty, genre-pushing writing and next-level performances by Comer and her costar Sandra Oh. In Killing Eve, based on Luke Jennings' Codename Villanelle e-books, Oh plays Eve, a refreshingly normal M15 officer who becomes obsessed with finding Comer's Villanelle, a wildly confident, often petulant, probably psychopathic killer.
Their cat-and-mouse dynamic is what makes the show so unexpected and fun to watch. And as season two approaches, it feels as though there's still so much more to unpack about the women and their many complexities. Comer says that Waller-Bridge had a clear vision, especially for Villanelle. "She was always going on about her naughtiness, her childishness, which I love—that mischief and fearlessness and lack of caring for what people think," Comer says. "But then, she's a woman and extremely talented and good at her job. There's this side of her that's like, 'Do not fuck with her.'"
For Comer, the most important thing was to make Villanelle, a contract killer with a closet full of couture, relatable. "Assassins always seem, to me, to be portrayed as superheroes that you can't really access," she explains. "There's a wall up, where you're like, 'I'd like to see what's going on underneath all of this.' There's a lot of redeemable qualities about her, which I think enables the audience to be on her side sometimes. Strangely, sometimes you respect her.
"I think sometimes what is charming about these characters is their looks," she continues. "Like, he's a psychopath or a murderer, but he's so…the only thing you like about him is that he's really good-looking. Villanelle is so much more than that. Her charm is not just in the way she looks but the way she acts and carries herself."
This is true, though her insanely gorgeous fashion sense helps. Comer agrees. "She completely expresses herself through her clothes. You know she gets paid well for what she does, and that's how she likes to spend her money," she says. "She very much dresses based on where she is in the world, which is influenced by how she feels. I don't think she has a set style. She would probably try to wear everything and anything, but because she wears it with confidence, it works. That's probably the key to her: her confidence."
Comer says season two will keep unlocking more of Villanelle's many contradictions, but you won't be seeing a young actress play "baby Villanelle" in flashbacks: "What we really explore is these flickers of moments, where we feel like we're getting in there of who she was and is. She is forced into situations where she has to try and be honest, and I think that's really interesting for the audience to see."
Villanelle will also be grappling with the lack of control she feels because of her physical ailment. (In the season one finale—spoilers ahead—Eve stabs Villanelle.) "She's never in this situation—she's not in control at all," Comer says. "It was great to play that; for someone who is always on top, she's very much on the bottom of the food chain."
In addition to more epic surroundings and grand sets, this season will also feature "a lot more" deceiving. "People are being faced with the consequences of the decisions they've made," she says. "Villanelle is still very creative in her kills, when she gets back on track."
But what about Eve and Villanelle's complicated obsession with each other? In the finale, the two finally find a peaceful moment alone—and then, as we mentioned, there was that whole stabbing thing. "To be honest, [their dynamic is] not something [Sandra Oh and I] talk about much, because it's something we always find more of when we're on set together," Comer says. "What I love is that each person that watches this show has their own interpretation, because it is so open and up for anything."
As for Comer, she just enjoys the fascination and appreciation the women have for one another. She doesn't have an answer as to whether there's a sexual element or not to their relationship, but that's what she finds so intriguing—because it's constantly shifting. "In that last scene of season one, everyone thought they were going to start kissing and have sex," she says. "Everyone seems to want them together, even though it's totally unhealthy for the both of them."
Comer thinks Villanelle simply wants someone she can Netflix and chill with. "[She's attracted to] this normality and this human connection that Eve so clearly has, whereas I think Eve is kind of desperate for something more than normal life," she says. "Villanelle has this fearlessness and lives for each moment as it comes. I think that's where the wires are crossed.
"Villanelle's constantly pushing Eve to the brink and constantly stepping over the line," she adds. "That can only go on for so long. It's like, how much can you take of a bad relationship? How much are you willing to let someone push you before you call it quits, you know? I think that's definitely explored [in season two]."
Killing Eve season two premieres April 7 on BBC America.
Reporting by Jessica Radloff. Anna Moeslein is a senior editor at Glamour. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @annamoeslein.
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