It’s telling that Jodie Comer’s best known look to date – a pink tulle gown by Molly Goddard – belonged to her Killing Eve character, Villanelle. “You come into [acting] because it’s what you love, [but] there’s a whole other aspect to it that feeds into it,” the Liverpudlian actor tells Vogue of navigating the press circuit, and the fashion choices that come with it, ahead of the London premiere of her new blockbuster film, 28 Years Later. “I think I’ve always shied away from that.”
No longer: thanks to a new partnership with Danielle Goldberg – the stylist responsible for the It-girl wardrobes of Ayo Edebiri, Greta Lee and Saoirse Ronan, among others – Comer is embracing the fashion world with a fresh perspective. “I’ve come to a point where I was like, this is to be enjoyed and celebrated; have fun with it,” she explains.
So far, the 28 Years Later press tour has seen her wearing minimalist designs from the likes of Proenza Schouler, Khaite, Calvin Klein and Gucci – pieces that tap into Comer’s low-key approach to style, yet nonetheless signal the cool-girl attitude that all of Goldberg’s clients possess. “I’ve really loved all my looks on this press tour; very understated, but beautiful,” Comer says. “It feels like [Danielle] really saw an aspect of myself; I wanted to start actually recognising myself when I go out in these public spaces, and feeling proud. I’m really excited because it’s just the beginning [of this partnership]. ”
For Wednesday night’s premiere, Comer and Goldberg landed on a custom liquid-silver Prada dress, inspired by Uma Thurman in the 1997 sci-fi thriller, Gattaca. “It’s a look that I’ve never, ever seen myself in before – [it’s] very fitted,” the actor notes. “I feel like I’m in a place where I’m feeling confident and not wanting to kind of make myself smaller or hide. It really feels like a kind of stepping out.”
Comer’s style transformation is timely, considering that her star turn as Isla, alongside Jack O’Connell, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes, is her debut appearance in a major studio franchise. Was it a daunting prospect to enter Danny Boyle’s post-apocalyptic world? “There’s a beauty to coming on something that’s already so well established because there’s such a huge foundation, [but] the expectation can also be really nerve-wracking – you kind of just have to put that to one side,” she says.
Following her leading role in another end-times drama, The End We Start From, how does Comer think she would fare in a real-life apocalypse? “We think that we wouldn’t be able to cope with it, but actually, it’s not until sometimes we’re forced into a situation [that we] behave in a way in which you probably have never behaved before,” she replies. “I think that’s about our innate resilience that maybe a lot of us have never had to tap into in that extreme way.”
Below, see how Jodie Comer got ready for the London premiere of 28 Years Later.
