Jodie Comer started her career playing small guest spots before slowly bagging herself larger roles after show nominations highlighted her work.
Jodie Comer was the breakout star in BBC's spy thriller, Killing Eve. With her portrayal of Villanelle, a psychopathic assassin, the Liverpool-born actress was on a fast track to success as she bagged her first Emmy back in 2019 for Outstanding Actress.
The bright lights of Hollywood haven't always been in Jodie's eyes as she came from a relatively working-class family background. Whilst studying at St. Julie's Catholic High School, it was her weekend classes that kick-started her acting career.
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Taking up residency in a local acting school on the weekends, Jodie was asked to perform a dance from the show Chicago. Her radical decision against the request is what signalled a career in acting may be the path for her. speaking to Glass magazine about the moment, she said: "I'd gone on holiday with my parents and [the team] messaged me saying I was out as I hadn't been there to practice. I was mortified, but in Liverpool, we had this thing called the drama festival which I entered solo with my drama school and I came first."
Jodie opted for a dramatic monologue reading which impressed her teachers so much, they asked her to send her tape as an audition for a BBC 4 radio play. Pleasing the station, Jodie managed to bag herself her first official acting role. She added: "They told me that if I enjoyed it so much I could actually make it into a career, which hadn't really occurred to me before."
Not long after the role did Jodie decide it was time to get an agent and from there, she put her career into motion. Still in school at the time, the actress was appearing on multiple television shows including drama series The Royal Today. In 2010, Jodie appeared in both Waterloo Road and Holby City, two of the UK's longest-running and celebrated shows.
Her first recurring character role came in the form of Sharna Mulhearne, a key witness in the legal drama Justice, as she appeared in all five episodes. Crime dramas appeared to be Jodie's forte as she went on to bag a guest spot on Law and Order: UK. From here, she branched out by taking on vastly different characters and genres including a supernatural thriller, Remember Me, along with the pretty best friend Chloe in My Mad Fat Diary from 2013 - 2015.
The critically acclaimed comedy series was nominated for multiple BAFTAs, giving Jodie her first real taste at winning. Though she never won an award personally for the show, it wasn't long before she moved from side friend to leading actress. An award nomination soon came for her role as Ivy Moxam in Thirteen, a part she played with a central role in the narrative.
Critics took note of Jodie from here as the nomination highlighted just how much of a phenomenal act she is. After a few more mediaeval shows added to her career, a noteworthy addition was playing Rey's mother in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
Her magnum opus so far has been Killing Eve which first aired in 2018. The role of Villanelle has been synonymous with Jodie and stands as some of the great work she has produced so far. The part allowed the Chillwall native to not only win an Emmy, but to be the driving force for the majority of her awards.
The actress has accepted tophies from the British Academy and Televison awards, Marie Claire awards and the TV Choice Awards. Speaking at her first Emmy acceptance, she said: "I was not expecting to get up on this stage at all. I can not believe I am in a category alongside these women, one of them who is my co-star Sandra Oh.
"Safe to say, Sandra, that this Killing Eve journey has been an absolute whirlwind and I feel so lucky to have shared the whole experience with you."
Thanking people, she added: "My mum and dad who are in Liverpool, who I didn't invite because I didn't think this was going to be my time. One, I'm sorry. Two, I love you and I'm going to bring it home."
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