‘Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh & Jodie Comer Talk Drama’s “Tremendous Gift”

Killing Eve, BBC America’s thrilling, blood-soaked cat-and-mouse, will soon come to an end with its final season, and stars Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer are grateful for the wild ride.

“For me, its been a tremendous gift that I’m really, really grateful for,” said Oh during the show’s CTAM panel on Thursday. “Very rarely do you get the opportunity as an actor…that you are able to grow in the act of creation.”

Set to debut Feb. 27 on BBC America and AMC+, Season 4 of Killing Eve picks up with Villanelle (Comer) and Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) in very different places. Following Eve and Villanelle’s exchange on the bridge, the former is on a revenge mission, while the latter has found a brand new community in an attempt to prove she’s not a “monster.” Having killed Paul, Carolyn goes to extraordinary lengths to continue to chase down The Twelve and the person that ordered Kenny’s hit.

For Oh, playing Eve Polastri for four seasons provided more than just a rare opportunity to explore, adding that she needed to “grow as a person” to bring her character to new places in her continued search for The Twelve. From the series’ first season to its upcoming fourth, Oh said that Eve has shedded her “complete innocence” becoming seemingly unrecognizable from the MI5 intelligence officer she first started as.

Comer added that her time on Killing Eve as the complicated, ruthlessly violent and unapologetically chic Villanelle “changed my life in many ways.”

“I think I really had to shed a skin with her, I think I was extremely self-conscious coming into this process and there was something about playing her that I had to get rid of that and I had to dar and be a little fearless,” she said. “that has definitely filtered in my own life, which I’m really grateful for. There’s a lot about her that I look to celebrate.”

Killing Eve and its leads have received critical acclaim throughout the years, with numerous Emmy nominations and one win for Comer in 2019. Oh has also received a SAG Award and Golden Globe for her performance. But beyond the awards, executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle said Killing Eve celebrates a refreshing take on television.

“I hope what the show has done is show how brilliant a completely female-led show can be and how successful it can be,” she said.

Added Season 4 lead writer Laura Neal: “I think people have really enjoyed seeing female characters act without shame and without boundaries and doing the things that make them feel good.”

Killing Eve is executive produced by Gentle, Neal, Oh, Lee Morris, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Gina Mingacci and Damon Thomas.