Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
DEADLY SECRETS
Yes, the hit thriller’s back – and here its stars reveal how unwelcome visitors, a delve into Villanelle’s past and a fateful meeting will take it up a notch
As Killing Eve returns for eries three, its stars reveal a blast from Villanelle’s past shakes things up
(Owen Mcdonnell) is over and he’s had a breakdown, not only over their break-up, prompted by Eve’s obsession with Villanelle, but also because Villanelle killed his new girlfriend. It’s not surprising he’s in a dark place and he’ll likely be dragged into more.
Eve’s in hiding as the series begins, but something horrific forces her to come into the open and resume the chase. ‘She’s had so much loss,’ says Sandra. ‘Her life is consumed by chaos – you’ll see what happens when someone is pushed to an extreme.’
The show was created by womanof-the-moment Phoebe Wallerbridge, based on the Codename Villanelle books by Luke Jennings. This series (a fourth has been confirmed), while still co-produced by Phoebe, has been written by Suzanne Heathcote, taking over from series two’s writer Emerald Fennell. British writer Suzanne hits the ground running – by the end of episode one fans will be amazed to discover who’s survived and who hasn’t.
‘You feel a responsibility when you take on something that so many people love,’ says Suzanne. ‘I needed to honour what Emerald had done and make sure I was taking it to a new place. But ultimately you have to stay true to the story you’re telling.’
Suzanne says she loved playing with the central relationship of the piece. ‘It’s about two women who are only truly seen by each other. Villanelle’s gift as it were, which tends to be killing people, is an art form for her. Eve actually appreciates the brilliance of what Villanelle does and sees her as a human in a way no one else does. Villanelle feels that.
‘And similarly for Eve, the things she grapples with in her darker self are only truly seen by Villanelle. Elements of herself that she may have suppressed – or not even be aware of – are seen by Villanelle.’
While the series centres on the Eve/ Villanelle axis, for many fans the star turn comes from Fiona Shaw as Eve’s inscrutable boss Carolyn, who never lets her love for her son Kenny (Sean Delaney), Eve’s colleague, get in the way of her work. This series will see her confronting feelings she would have never expected, and a new boss, Paul, played by Steve Pemberton.
‘Suzanne’s writing is almost like playwriting,’ says Fiona, 61, who won a BAFTA for the role. ‘It makes this series deeper than our previous ones.
We all got involved with each other in a much more complicated way.
‘Konstantin and Carolyn have some very interesting scenes. They are the two adults of the series and have a more sophisticated and ambiguous relationship. They have this strange intimacy which is also slightly hostile. It’s full of nooks and crannies and mountains and troughs.’
Also, for the first time, Villanelle and Carolyn finally meet. ‘Everyone is being tested in different ways in this series,’ says Jodie. ‘A couple of characters come to a point of realisation at the end. They’re all on their own trajectories but their worlds collide. It’ll really reel people in to know I have a scene with Fiona at last!
‘You should stick around for that alone. I’ve been fighting to get a scene with Fiona since day one, so it was a glorious thing to shoot.’