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This interview was conducted and edited before the COVID-19 pandemic.
You know what they say about being surprised when celebrities are shorter in person than you’d expect? I’ve interviewed a few and never experienced that — that is, until I meet actor Jodie Comer, at Milk Studios in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Perhaps it’s because of the sheer space she manages to take up onscreen as the assassin Villanelle in Killing Eve, while stealthily moving through a dance club or an open office plan with the intent to kill. Perhaps it’s because, even though Villanelle's training has made her catlike, she’s also a bit boorish and stubborn, traits that endear her to viewers but often get her character into trouble. Or maybe it’s just because she’s wearing slides and a robe, straight from a photo shoot, and I’m wearing platform boots. Who can say?
I soon learn that while Comer may not have a weapon hidden in her low bun, she’s just as lively as her onscreen counterpart, and we get to chatting about her favorite looks from the hit series, her beauty inspiration, and her partnership with skin-care brand Noble Panacea.
On Her Beauty Routine and First Brand Partnership
Growing up in Liverpool, Comer says it was a big deal to get dressed up with her friends. "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," she says. She also realized that she felt more comfortable when she wasn’t wearing makeup, and shifted her focus to skin- and self-care. But it’s not all or nothing for her. "I think now I'm just trying to be more comfortable with what I have rather than having to cover up," she tells Allure. "But I do love putting makeup on for a night out."
Perhaps that’s why a partnership with Noble Panacea (her first) feels so natural to her. The brand, which was developed by a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, uses a new technology called Organic Molecular Vessels™ (OMVs™) that is said to "deliver active ingredients [in skin care] with extreme precision." "I have to believe in it," Comer says of her partnership, "and have to want to wear it myself and be proud of it. And I tried the products and just loved them."
Noble Panacea offers two lines, Absolute and Brilliant, and Comer uses the Brilliant line. "I am obsessed with the Overnight Recharge Cream. What I love is that you know your skin is getting the hydration. You might wake up with a dry mouth, but your skin is glowing," she says. In addition to loving on her skin with good products, Comer says she also drinks "lots of water. I think water is the key to everything."
On Her Beauty Icon and the Products She Can’t Live Without
"You know who I'm just obsessed with? Meryl Streep," Comer says. Though she's talking about her beauty inspiration, she could be making a more general statement and it would ring just as true. "I mean, throughout her whole life...she's so beautiful, and just in such a simple and pure way."
Speaking of obsessions, she has one you might relate to (in particular, she's a fan of Glossier's Boy Brow). When asked about her favorite products ever, she says, "My number one is eyebrow gel. I can’t live without it." She’s so serious about it that she often does it herself, even on set. "I could have no makeup on, but if I fix my brows...or when I'm on set, the one thing I want to do myself is my eyebrows," she tells Allure. This is almost a two-for-one answer, because she has a bit of a hack, so listen up: Whenever Comer finds herself without eyebrow gel, she uses hairspray on a mascara spooley brush and swipes it on. But she’s quick to warn, "This is, like, when it's desperate times."
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(Side note: Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, tells Allure this is a solid tip, with a slight caveat. "While I do not recommend spraying into your face, applying [hairspray] directly to the eyebrows after spraying it onto a spooley should be safe to use," he says. He assures us that hairspray is effective for holding hair in place, whether it's on your scalp or your eyebrows, so feel free to try this if you're out of Boy Brow.)
Comer is after our own hearts here at Allure because she’s also a fan of high SPF sunscreen. "It’s been kind of ingrained in me through friends who work in the skin-care industry," she says. "They're like, 'It doesn't matter if it's raining, if it's a thunderstorm outside, you wear your SPF.'"
On Her Favorite Look From Killing Eve and When She’s Most Comfortable Onscreen
Comer doesn’t play just one role on Killing Eve; she plays a different role, or three, almost every episode. Sure, she’s always playing Villanelle, but she’s playing Villanelle as a nurse, or an inmate, or a teacher, and with each new persona comes a new look. Her favorite? "I've always wanted to have red or auburn hair, and we had that kind of wig in season two when I was playing this schoolteacher. I was obsessed with that look," she recalls.
While Villanelle’s hair and outfits change regularly, depending on what her job calls for, it’s not like she’s putting on a prosthetic nose and ears or doing a lot of contouring to blend in. "We always had this thing of like, she doesn't have time to sit and do her makeup," says Comer. "I think she's busy, and she has her priorities in different places."
Sometimes you’ll see Villanelle fresh-faced and simple, sometimes made up, and other times you’ll see her with a cut or a bruise, which Comer says is when she feels the most in the role. "It's like the moment you have to be sexy or attractive onscreen, I become so self-conscious. Whereas if I've got no makeup on and I've got a bruise on my face, I'm like, 'Let's go.' You know? But that's just me."
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