FromPhoebe Waller-Bridge(Fleabag), the BBC America seriesKilling Eveis centered on two women – Eve (Sandra Oh), a bored but smart MI5 security officer who’s forever stuck at her desk job, and Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a talented killer. When these two women happen to cross paths, they become equally obsessed with each other and find themselves in an epic and thrilling game of cat-and-mouse.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, actress Sandra Oh talked about how fulfilling her role onKilling Eveis, what she liked about the voice of the series, the experience of playing an unconscious character, the fascinating dynamic between Eve and Villanelle, working with a talent likeFiona Shaw(the agent who recruits Eve to track down the psychopathic female assassin, Villanelle), and her desire to continue exploring this story.
Collider:This character is amazing! Was this one of those roles where there was just no way that you would not want to do this?
SANDRA OH:It was so much fun and really, really, fulfilling. It was fun, on so many levels, to play opposite such fantastic actors, like Jodie [Comer] and Fiona [Shaw] and David Haig and Owen McDonnell, was just amazing. To be in London and to travel, we shot in five countries, which was just exciting to do. And then, working with Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] very, very closely was also very exciting.
This show is fun and smart, with two bad-ass women at its center, and I really loved it! Did you know it would be all of that, when you signed on?
OH:No. I don’t think you may ever know what things are going to evolve into, but there are certain things that I wanted to be aligned with. The fact that the voice of the show is a young woman’s voice, and her tone and style is very fresh, I definitely wanted to be aligned with that. I really like the vibe of the people at BBC American. And I liked the fact that this show is about these two women. My character is a person who is really trying to carve her place in the world, and is involved in a relationship with this assassin. I find that very curious. I was interested in trying to figure out why that is.
Do you feel like this is a woman who has really been unhappy with where she’s at?
OH:One of the reasons that I like playing Eve is that I find her to be a very unconscious character. I don’t think that she would even say that she’s unhappy. It’s almost like she’s just not awake. But the spark that happens with Villanelle leaves her wanting more and wanting to break out of her shell, and then you see that transition. You’ll see that really come alive. You’ll see it grow, more and more, through the eight episodes.
Do you think she ever would have gotten to that point without this happening to her?
OH:No, I don’t think so. I think she would’ve just gone through life, fine and okay. She does have a natural curiosity, in that way, but the spark that happens between them, across countries, is the energy that really changes, forever, who she’s going to be.
I love how smart she is and how much more sassy and outspoken she’s becoming. Is that fun to get to play with?
OH:Definitely! I think that continues on, and then it also has room to unravel and get messy and get dark.
For people who are wondering what this show is, what can you say about the journey for this season?
OH:Killing Eveis about these two women who are hunting each other. They might think that it’s to stop the other person or kill the other person, but really, it’s to save the other person. They just don’t know that, themselves. This season is all about that first meeting.
They pretty much have to get to know each other without actually getting to do that directly.
OH:Correct.
What’s that like?
OH:I think it’s constantly fascinating. You’re having that dynamic with XYZ person in your life, who you might not be actually talking to. We’re dealing with that, all the time, in the leaders that we have and the pop stars that we love. You’re having a dynamic with them. It just goes from a dynamic that’s unconscious to becoming more conscious. They both really, really, really want it. Even though this show is about my and Jodie’s characters, we didn’t actually physically work with each other a lot, but we would always feel so present with each other. There were times where we’d have the same shooting day and we’d be like, “Hi, how are you?!” But it was still very, very rich. We were still definitely having a relationship. It’s also so great to come up with it, in your head. You think someone is something and you project all this stuff on them, and then you have to figure out whether that’s true or not.
There are such interesting dynamics on this show, without a huge ensemble, which makes it feel very personal.
OH:Stylistically, maybe we’re ready to come back to a smaller cast on television because we wanna spend more intimate time with people. I’m always fascinated with television because we view it differently and we shoot it differently. There’s the era of giant casts. There’s the era of big CGI. With our show, this is the time of spending really intimate, psychological time with these two people.
It seems like this is a tone that’s a little tricky. How was that to find the right balance of?
OH:I think it’s really, really tricky, but also what makes the show special. It’s hard to play. You feel like you know what it is, when it’s a sad scene or it’s a funny scene, but then something happens that upends that, which makes you lean in, be curious, be surprised, or it’s unexpected, and that’s the tone of the show. But, it has to be truthful. That’s the challenge. I’m trying to be truthful in the circumstance, and then something crazy happens, so how do I make that truthful, in my brain. But when we’ve hit those points, that’s what makes it special and odd.
Do you think Eve would still have taken this same path, right into the path of an assassin, if she had known where all of this would lead?
OH:That’s a great question. That’s a great life question, and it’s also an impossible question. I would say yes. That’s the great thing about maturing. You would never go back and, hopefully, you’re grateful for everything that brought you to this moment because, ultimately, it’s worth it ‘cause you’re alive and this is the moment. So, I don’t know. I would say yes, and I would also say no because there’s a lot of destruction that comes our way.
It seems like it can’t be stopped.
OH:You’re so right. That’s the thing, it can’t be stopped. When you’re in, you keep on going in.
What did you enjoy about working with Fiona Shaw?
OH:She’s so amazing! When I heard that Fiona Shaw was playing Carolyn, I was so excited. I saw her inMedea, in 2003 on Broadway. The first time I met her was at our read through and I was like, “I saw you on Broadway!,” and I did something that she did at the end of the play. I acted it out because I totally remembered it. That’s a beautiful example of a relationship that’s very, very deep and that will get really, really complicated. You have two women, where one is senior, and she does something that I think we all need more of, which is that she’s a person in a position of power, she sees something in someone, and she takes a risk and trusts what they can do. She trusts that she knows that this person has something. That’s because of Carolyn’s experience, confidence and instinct. I really liked that it’s Carolyn who’s bringing Eve into the fold and empowering her.
When you got to the end of the season, did it make you that much more excited to follow this woman more and delve into her deeper for more seasons?
OH:Well, I was so tired. I was just like, “Oh, it’s Christmas?!” We finished in mid-December, and then went right into the holidays. You never know. It makes me feel confident to hear people’s reactions to it. That really buoys me. We greatly hope that there’s a next season. I do love thinking about it.
