Let’s see what Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh and Fiona Shaw have been up to since the heartbreaking finale
BY KAY TRAYFORD, IMAGE BY DAVID EMERY/BBCA
Never has a killer made us so mentally, emotionally and – let’s be honest – sexually confused. Oksana Anatolyevna Astankova, or to us viewers, Villanelle.
In April 2018, Villanelle graced our screens with her seductive serial killer charm, a wardrobe that was to die for and a sharp-tongued wit that would have any of us buckling at the knees. We were a nation hooked; manipulated by a beautiful blonde with big eyes and an accent that wasn’t sexy until it belonged to her.
Was she to love or hate? It was one that all viewers tussled with. But whichever camp you fell into, you were guaranteed to love the show. Almost overnight, Killing Eve became an instant hit, appealing to a diverse demographic of audiences worldwide and we still pine over it to this day.
For four whole nail-chomping, pillow-biting, seat-wetting seasons, Jodie Comer’s Villanelle and Sandra Oh’s Eve, stole our sapphic hearts, took a big old bite out of them, crushed them and threw them out to sea. Then, with an aching glimmer of hope we watched as our odd but delicious pairing almost rode off into the sunset together… until they didn’t. The season finale hit and our souls were destroyed.
Was that really the end of Villanelle and Eve? Of their tragic love story? Villanelle’s body was never found, which left us desperate viewers clinging to the idea of another season. Don’t get me wrong, I love a tease, but I’d prefer one to be biting my lip rather than killing off my favourite character.
According to direct sources, there’s no plan for a further season (back to the fan fiction sites we go), but fear not, there’s still hope to exercise our massive girl crushes as we look at what our favourite Killing Eve cast members are doing now.
Jodie Comer (Villanelle)
After Killing Eve’s final episode aired in 2022, Jodie’s career has gone from strength to strength, which is unsurprising considering her flawless acting talent. I’ve always said that actors who possess the skill of “acting through the eyes” will easily hold a viewer’s soul for a lifetime; Comer is one of those Actors. She has my soul, any day of the week.
Although we have yet to see a further sapphic storyline or queer character for our beloved Jodie, our crushes hold steadfast. It’s exciting to see a Liverpool-born lass smashing it in a highly male-driven industry. I’m looking forward to her continuing to share (or should I say steal) the screen from her co-stars, Austin Butler (The Bikeriders), Hugh Jackman (The Death Of Robin Hood) and Ralph Fiennes in 28 Years Later. I have to add that I am particularly excited about the latter: self-confessed zombie nerd here. No shame.
Sandra Oh (Eve)
Over the years, Sandra has blessed the sapphic community with gift after gift, but my ultimate favourite queer coupling of hers has to be in Tammy. If you haven’t seen it, stop what you are doing and go watch it.
In Tammy, Sandra plays Suzanne, the wife of Tammy’s (Melissa McCarthy) Aunt Leanore (Kathy Bates). Sandra and Kathy’s onscreen chemistry was adorable and their lifestyle is the dream for lesbian couples everywhere. Hello, a large open house in the woods by a lake? Daily cocktails on the deck? Delightful, no?
Though Tammy was released way before Killing Eve, I still have high hopes for further sapphic roles for Sandra. I’m very excited to see Sandra co star alongside one of my ultimate forever crushes, Julianne Moore, in the up-and-coming movie, Stone Mattress. Can I get a yes, please!
Fiona Shaw (Carolyn Martens)
Where do I even begin with the sheer adoration for this woman. Fiona first graced my screen in one of my favourite movies, Three Men And A Little Lady.
Fiona played Miss Elsbeth Lomax, the headmistress of a boarding school. There is one scene in particular involving a silky white night dress and Tom Selleck in a closet and while it’s not the girl-on-girl action we all live for, it makes me roll every time.
In real life, Fiona is married to her wife, Sonali Deraniyagala, who she met after reading Deraniyagala’s memoir and becoming utterly moved by it. Through mutual friends an introduction was made and, as the old saying goes, the rest was history. We can look forward to seeing more of one of our favourite lesbians in Hot Milk, alongside Emma Mackey, and with Whoopi Goldberg in the up-and-coming series, Anansi Boys.
Camille Cottin (Helene)
Now, if you thought that Killing Eve already had enough hot women with equally sexy accents, they went and outdid themselves and threw in this outstanding French actor. I’ll admit I too am guilty of googling her immediately when her character, Helene, first appeared in series three, taunting and flirting with Villanelle.
Is Camille Cottin gay? I typed frantically into my browser… like I somehow had a chance. Alas, dear readers, she is not.
Though there are no plans for Camille to star in another UK TV series, yet, you may catch her gracing the French movie screens with her comedy and prowess, as long you turn on the subtitles or learn a little bit of French.
Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Elena Felton)
We only had Kirby character, Elena, for the first season of Killing Eve before she headed on to other projects. One of those was Why Women Kill, a fantastically written, dark comedy-drama series focused the lives of three women from three different decades: a housewife in the 60s, a socialite in the 80s, and Kirby’s character, a bisexual lawyer in 2018, who is dealing with the circumstances of her unfaithful husband after their open marriage agreement. Starring alongside Ginnifer Goodwin and Lucy Liu, this must-watch is a gentle reminder of why I’m glad I’m a lesbian.
You can currently see Kirby playing the role of Ruby in the Apple TV series Sugar. She also portrays Death in the wonderfully queer The Sandman series on Netflix.
Gemma Whelan (Geraldine Stowton)
It’s a scene that will be etched in my memory forever. Yes, you know the one I’m talking about. Game Of Thrones’ Yara Greyjoy (Gemma) and Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) making out was the queer scene we needed amid the chaotic seventh season of the fantasy series. A moment that I personally felt should have adorned our screens for longer and left me – like many others – longing for more sapphic content from Gemma after returning to our screens in Killing Eve.
Unfortunately, the saph didn’t return and neither did my crush as I found Gemma’s character, Geraldine, to be downright irritable. Nevertheless, it did make me admire her as an actor even more, seeing her portray a character that was totally opposite to the one that famed her.
Gemma’s next role will be playing a character called Glenda in Untitled Pyjama Men Project. There’s currently not a lot of information out there about the project yet, leaving us just a little bit of room to dream and hope that the content will be queer, queer, queer!
David Haig (Bill Pargrave)
Not Bill, why Bill?! This was exactly what I cried when his character’s life was swiftly ended in a nightclub by Villanelle at the end of the first season. As one of Eve’s closest friends and colleagues, it was a tear-jerking moment to watch him die helplessly in front of her.
It’s worth mentioning that even though his character was married, he confided in Eve on a trip to Berlin that he was in an open relationship, and he had had previous sexual encounters with men. I for one think it’s unfortunate that we did not see more of this character and his development, as his open struggle with his public queer identity, is one that could have resonated with a lot of viewers.
Since being killed off, we’ve seen David appear in the series COBRA and we hope to see him on our screens again.
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