JODIE COMER SLAYS US
Free Guy, Killing Eve 4, The Last Duel
Before taking on her Emmy-winning role as Oksana Astankova/Villanelle in Killing Eve, British actress Jodie Comer spent a decade racking up acclaim in British television.
Coming from a working-class background in Liverpool, England, Comer’s first professional acting gig was on a BBC Radio 4 play while still in high school. After appearances on the British medical soap operas The Royal Today, Holby City, and Doctors, she quickly racked up guest roles on British crime procedurals, including Silent Witness, Good Cop, and Law & Order: UK. From there, Comer broke through with lead roles on the series My Mad Fat Diary, and the miniseries Remember Me, plus her British Academy Television Award-nominated performance in Thirteen.
In 2017, she made her feature film debut as Christine in England is Mine, a biopic that tells the story of the English singer-songwriter Morrissey, before he formed The Smiths in 1982.
But her true breakthrough for American audiences was her psychopathic assassin role in Killing Eve. The first season of the black comedy-drama spy thriller was under showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Comer’s work in the second season was under the tutelage of Emerald Fennell, and she then snagged her Emmy.
While Killing Eve seems to have kept Comer busy, she did have a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as Rey’s mother in a Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker flashback sequence.
As Killing Eve moves towards its fourth and final season, let’s take a look at Comer’s upcoming projects.
Free Guy
Most of us never think about the “lives” of non-player characters (NPCs) in the background of video games. But as the titular “Guy,” Ryan Reynolds is an NPC who suddenly needs to become a hero to save his video game home.
Free Guy will co-star Comer and Joe Keery (Steve Harrington of Netflix’s Stranger Things) as the computer programmers trapped within the video game. This sci-fi action comedy is helmed by Shawn Levy (behind the Night At The Museum franchise).
While the film was shot in 2019, its original release date was scrapped due to COVID-19. But now, it has a theatrical release set for August 13, 2021.
The Last Deal
A new Ridley Scott film, The Last Duel, is telling of the historical “duel to end all duels” between French Knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and squire Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) over the honor of his wife, Comer’s Marguerite de Carrouges.
This film is based on the 2004 Eric Jager book of the same name. The Knight v. Squire fight was indeed the “pay-per-view event” of the year 1386 —even King Charles VI (Ben Affleck) came to watch this battle to the death.
Affleck and Damon also co-wrote the screenplay with Nicole Holofcener (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).
The Last Duel is set for an October 15, 2021 release.
Killing Eve
While Phoebe Waller-Bridge remains an executive producer, Sex Education writer Laura Neal is on board as showrunner for this fourth and final season.
Sandra Oh and Fiona Shaw will return, and so will Gemma Whelan for the final eight episodes.
Production had been stalled due to the pandemic, but shooting is slated to begin this month (June 2021). So, don’t expect any episodes until 2022. As the show will end on its terms, there has been much speculation about possible spin-offs following the finale.
