The Transformation Of Jodie Comer From Childhood To 29 Years Old
Jodie Comer is a force. She can play an anti-hero so well that we end up rooting for her, she seemingly can nail any accent, her skin glows, and yes, we want to be best friends with her. Before she turned 30, the British actor won an Emmy and a BAFTA for "Killing Eve," and a second BAFTA for her performance in "Help," and it seems safe to assume there will be more hardware in her future.
Hilariously, she is so talented at accents that there was worldwide confusion about Comer's actual speaking voice. No, she's not a Russian orphan turned psychopath. Instead, she's got a distinctive Scouse accent thanks to her Liverpool roots. But it's not just her accent that's charmed the world. Comer's movie and TV credits are piling up, including acting alongside Ryan Reynolds in "Free Guy," as well as opposite Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in "The Last Duel."
She's certainly working among the best and we need look no further than her "Killing Eve" co-star. "I cannot believe I'm in a category alongside these women, one of them who is my co-star, Sandra Oh," Comer said when she won an Emmy in 2019. "Sandra, safe to say ... this has been a whirlwind. I'm lucky to have shared the whole experience with you." But how did this whole experience start? Let's get into the transformation of Jodie Comer.
Childhood and early acting career
Jodie Comer has done Liverpool proud. The star is one of those rare people who knew from childhood exactly what she wanted to be and went for it. Comer told Glass in 2018 that she not only took drama classes as a kid, but won a local acting festival competition. In large part, Comer's career took off thanks to attentive teachers. "I performed my monologue for my drama teacher and she took notice," Comer went on. "This led to me being sent to audition for a BBC Radio 4 play which became my first ever working job." Comer said that because of this gig, she spoke to working actors who told her that she should pursue acting as a career and she did it.
As she began to reach worldwide fame, a neighbor of Comer's told the Mirror, "She was a really happy little girl although a bit shy. I asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up and she said 'an actress'. It's fantastic she's done so well." Her childhood dance instructor added, "As soon as Jodie started, we knew she was going to be a star. She was very quiet but determined... We are so proud of her."
Alas, two of her biggest fans — her parents — were not in the audience when she nabbed her first Emmy in 2019. As she charmingly shared during her acceptance speech, she didn't think she had a chance at winning. Well, she was wrong there.
She didn't move out after hitting it big
No matter how rich and famous you become, home is where the heart is — at least for Jodie Comer. Even after hitting it big as Villanelle in "Killing Eve," the star chose to continue living with her parents. Per the Mirror, she shared in 2018 that it was the perfect way to balance her work life and her need to recharge. "I can't imagine not living with my mum and dad," Comer said. "I like having these two worlds. I get to travel and visit cool places, but then go back to reality." Reality, for Comer, is Liverpool, where she grew up and where she first honed in on her acting skills. She told Glass in 2018 that she did have to regularly make the trek down to London for some work but, at least when she was filming in England, she usually wasn't too far from her parents' abode in Liverpool.
As much as Comer enjoys being under the same roof as her family, she began to entertain the idea of changing things up a bit. She told The Sunday Times in 2020, "I'm definitely looking to move out." That said, she is still clearly a fan of sharing a home with her parents. "I'd live with my mum and dad till I was old and grey if I could," she said. In 2021, The Guardian noted she and her brother had moved out of their mom and dad's house.
She and her best friend both found stardom
Jodie Comer met super-athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson in Liverpool at Saint Julie's Catholic High School. The two have gone on to become stars in their own right. Representing England, Johnson-Thompson competed in the London Olympics in 2012, in Rio in 2016, and in Tokyo in 2020. She's also participated in the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships. After Johnson-Thompson won the 2018 World Athletics Indoor Championships, Comer posted a pic of her friend on Instagram and wrote, "All your hard work and perseverance paid off Kat. We are all in awe of you and your determination inspires me. THE CHAMP RIGHT THERE!"
What makes Johnson-Thompson's work as an athlete especially impressive is that she competes in heptathlons. As World Athletics points out, it's the ultimate competition that spans two days and includes seven different track and field categories. While competing in Götzis, Austria, in 2019, Johnson-Thompson landed 18th on the world's all-time list, according to World Athletics. Johnson-Thompson plays to win. "I don't want to just go out to compete, I want to be in the medal hunt," she told The Guardian in 2022 after an injury. "I've been working so hard, this is the longest run I've had with no injury leading into a champs for as long as I can remember."
Jodie Comer hit it off with Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Jodie Comer can now boast about having a close working relationship with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who gave us treasures like "Fleabag" and "Crashing." Waller-Bridge was one of the producers of "Killing Eve," but she and Comer connected before that series came to be. The pair met at the BAFTA Britannia Awards ceremony, where Waller-Bridge won for "Fleabag." Comer ran into her later in a hotel. "I was trying to play it really cool because I was fangirling really hard," she said, according to the Belfast Telegraph. Comer said they all got very drunk that night, so months later, when she auditioned for the part of Villanelle, she was mortified. But wouldn't you know it, Comer nabbed the gig acting opposite Sandra Oh for all four seasons.
"Phoebe's an amazing friend," Comer said to Grazia in 2020. Being two British transplants was another key factor in their friendship. "I love that we can share these experiences together – especially being out here in LA, as the two new kids on the block," Comer added. "I love LA, but it's sprawling and can often be overwhelming, so it's comforting having Phoebe here and being in the same boat."
Waller-Bridge interviewed Comer for Elle, where they agreed that the charm of Villanelle came from her self-assuredness. "I feel like it's such a human thing to be ruled by your insecurities, particularly for women," Waller-Bridge admitted and Comer agreed. Clearly, there's something in Villanelle that's compelling to both stars and so many viewers.
Killing Eve changed everything
Prior to "Killing Eve," Jodie Comer felt that her biggest acting challenge was the British drama series "Thirteen," where the actor played Ivy Moxam, a young woman who escapes after being kidnapped for thirteen years. But this wasn't the last acting challenge she'd face. In an interview with Glass, Comer got into how "Killing Eve" catapulted her career to the next level, as well as her work as an actor. "I felt a massive pressure in that sense, but it gave me the opportunity to show my range," she said. "I think 'Killing Eve' has changed that again in a different way as it is such a departure from my previous work."
Comer explained that "Killing Eve" not only brought invigorating artistic challenges as Villanelle, but introduced her to some major players in the industry, like Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Sandra Oh. What's more, the show itself was a massive success. The New Yorker proved utterly enchanted by the series, even more so because the series had female characters playing against type, like the seemingly cold-blooded assassin Villanelle. "[T]he women are deeply strange, forming a collective study in improbable contrasts, strung together by each actor's charisma," Jia Tolentino wrote of the Season 1 finale. Suffice to say, the show wasted no time killing it.
Jodie Comer clicked with Sandra Oh right away
Naturally, Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh have grown close after filming the volatile, sexually-charged dynamic between their "Killing Eve" characters. While getting to work alongside a television veteran like Oh is exciting in of itself, it doesn't hurt that she's a great person behind the scenes. Comer said of Oh to the BBC, "Anyone you speak to who works on a film set will say that the attitude of the lead actor trickles down through the whole set. This set is the happiest and most chilled-out set that I've ever worked on and that's a credit to the person that Sandra is. And she's fun, she's a funny lady."
Comer admitted to Glass she actually hadn't watched "Grey's Anatomy" before working with Oh. She believes that worked in her favor, as it kept her from getting in her own head about acting opposite Dr. Cristina Yang.
Clearly, these two clicked. When The Sun asked Oh how her character, Eve Polastri, maintains chemistry with Villanelle season after season, the "Grey's Anatomy" actor gave credit to her real-life connection with Comer. "Jodie and I have a profound relationship," Oh said. "At this point, having done three seasons, we trust each other when the magic is happening. That's how we work it."
Jodie Comer became an award season darling
After the first season of "Killing Eve" hit the small screen in 2018, Jodie Comer started racking up the accolades. In 2019, she was victorious at the BAFTAs and the Emmys, and the following year she took home a Golden Globe. Success be darned, she still has flickers of self-doubt. But this isn't a problem for the award winner, as complacency can lead to stagnation. Comer told Net-A-Porter in 2022, "I hope I never get too comfortable; I think it's nice to have those moments, but I definitely feel more steady in myself now."
Comer said that there are differences when dealing with outside perceptions of her. She explained to Glamour in 2020 that she's more comfortable facing criticism about her acting because she's become so confident with her work, but she doesn't necessarily love it when the criticism is about her as a person. "[I]f it's something more personable, like your self-esteem or what people think of you or reading things online that aren't true or those kinds of things, it's harder for me to kind of put my big girl pants on and be like, 'No, that isn't right,' or, 'That doesn't make sense,'" Comer said.
All about her style evolution
Since stealing our hearts as Villanelle on "Killing Eve," Jodie Comer has come a long way style-wise. She joked with Donna Ida in 2016 that she used to wear vintage dresses as a teenager that were frequently too big for her. "Now [that] I'm that bit older, I know what looks good on my figure and what doesn't," Comer said. So what has the evolution been? Vintage dresses to jeans. Comer admitted that her go-to look is skinny jeans with a simple top.
Since she travels so much, it made sense that the outlet asked Comer which city in the world has the best dressed women. "Parisian girls, definitely," Comer said. "Everything they do is so effortless, or at least seems it! You never want to look like you've made too much of an effort, ideally it would look like you rolled out of bed looking that way, I think that's always attractive."
Comer's had a transformation in terms of attitudes about skin care and makeup as well. She said to Allure in 2020 that as she's gotten older, less is more. "I went through this period where I was just obsessed with makeup and I wore a ton of it, and then I suddenly realized how much I was wearing, and the fact that I was spending all this money," Comer said, noting that she eventually decided a more natural look felt, well, more natural. So, she pivoted to a cleaner, simpler makeup regime.
Her love life drew negative attention
Jodie Comer is cagey when it comes to discussing her love life. In 2020, she gave some information to Vogue about a mystery man, admitting that she was in a relationship. "I think love's the best," Comer said. "I'd been single for a while and just kind of going with the flow and doing my thing. That's the thing, isn't it? When you're relaxed and letting the universe do what it's doing, things kind of fall into place." And what do you know, things fell into place for Comer's love life.
As time went on, more details were revealed. Comer met American lacrosse player James Burke in Boston at a party while she was filming "Free Guy," according to the Daily Mail. But things took an unexpected turn when rumors circulated that Burke was a registered Republican and, subsequently, Comer caught a lot of heat on social media. "It was really shocking; it was the first time I had ever been dragged into something like that," Comer told InStyle in December 2020. In a chat with Net-A-Porter, she said of the drama, "All this false information came out about him, and people just ridiculed him and me and my family. People took these tweets as truth."
In the aforementioned InStyle interview, Comer said a valuable lesson emerged from all of the chaos. She had to grow comfortable with her choices and her life, without worrying about incorrect stories circulating the internet that were out of her control.
Jodie Comer's net worth and other ventures
Jodie Comer's continued to find success while staying true to herself. In her 2019 interview with Phoebe Waller-Bridge for Elle, Comer noted that she's been lucky enough to work primarily on female-dominated sets. "The past five projects I've been a part of have all been written by women and I'm very aware that's rare, but that's something I want to continue and be conscious of and seek out," Comer noted. In 2022, Deadline reported she scored the lead role in "The End We Start From," a thriller helmed by Mahalia Belo.
Comer's work has paid off — literally. She has a net worth of $6 million as of 2022, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Of course, much of the income has come from her roles in TV and movies, but it's also come through sponsored content and outside streams of revenue. The luxury design brand Loewe brought Comer on as the face of their 2020 campaign. The brand's creative director, Jonathan Anderson, told to Elle, "[Comer] is 100 per cent committed to an idea. I find that incredibly inspiring and I think that's why people have gravitated towards her, and why we wanted to work with her in this campaign."
Comer has also become the face of Noble Panacea, a luxury skincare line designed by Nobel Laureate winner Sir Fraser Stoddart. Comer swears by the brand and uses it religiously, so it's a win-win: beauty and revenue all in one.