10 Best British TV Characters Of The Decade
3. Villanelle (Killing Eve)
Killing Eve’s mass murdering anti hero isn’t the role of a lifetime - it’s about 15 roles in one. Jodie Comer performs feats of great transformation, of acting within acting in her turn as Villanelle, a character who picks up and drops personas as easy as she does [deadly weaponry]. Comer, a Liverpudlian, cycles through accents with great verve, and the level of swagger and intensity she brings to the role means you can always buy her as a ruthless killer.
Two seasons in, Villanelle is still something of a mystery. The show never truly tries to diagnose her with a specific criminal disorder; she is simply a force of nature, the driving force behind an increasingly twisty overarching plot. Written in part by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Killing Eve’s scripts are peppered with quips and bon mots - Villanelle is the latest in a long line of wisecracking killers, but she’s also one of the best.
Killing Eve seems set to go for the long run, and its success will hang largely on the continued exploration of Villanelle’s life. Her backstory has been partially mined, but she’s a genuinely complex character. Her attraction to Eve and her motivations are still foggy. After season two’s cliffhanger (which, admittedly, was basically the same as season one’s cliffhanger), the major question is: what next for Villanelle?