“Can you lose that?”: Jodie Comer’s career-long battle against classism
Everyone is well aware of the struggles facing working-class talent when trying to access the art. From underfunding of local venues, crippling of community scenes and issues of nepotism, it’s getting harder and harder for kids from lower-income groups, normal families from outside of London to make a splash, but Jodie Comer managed to rise through it.
In the new generation of bright acting talent, Comer is undeniably one of the shiniest incoming stars. For a long time now, she’s been proving her power, starting out with TV roles like My Mad Fat Diary and Doctor Foster, but it was really in 2018 when she launched onto screens as the iconic Villanelle in Killing Eve that the world finally took note.
In Killing Eve, Comer puts on a master performance as the shape-shifting assassin across all three seasons, and it’s tough to think of an archetype or an accent that she didn’t nail as her character morphed from disguise to disguise, like an incredible actor playing an incredible actor. With the dynamic, gripping performance that included everything from belly-laugh comedy to heavy emotion, Comer lay bare the vast scope of her talent.
It set her up for forward movement, bringing her into projects like the heavy end-of-the-world movie, The End We Start From, or her moving role in 28 Years Later. It also expanded her outwards, seeing her tackle theatre in the truly devastating one-woman show, Prima Facie, and by now, with all that under her belt, she is well regarded as one of the key ones to watch, with more greatness sure to come.
All of that makes it even more baffling that there was ever a moment when she was doubted. With such obvious skill and passion, it’s wild to think that anyone would ever try to hold her back, but that’s the pervasive nature of class.
Born in Liverpool to a standard working-class family, Comer’s love for acting was prompted by a weekend extracurricular drama class she went to in her local area, highlighting the need for community arts. Yet, when she spread her wings further, she quickly experienced pushback based on her roots.
“I did a theatre play when I was 16 years old, but I hadn’t got the part yet, and I was going for the audition. The character was middle-class, RP, very well-spoken and from a very wealthy family,” Comer recalled to Glamour. As the only Scouser in the room, she felt like she was instantly ruled out, adding, “It wasn’t until I got the part that the director had told me that before I went in, she was like, ‘Why have we brought her in for the audition?’ because she had seen where I was from, and she didn’t think I was capable.”
Given that she’s proved herself and won the part, the revelation shocked young Comer, who couldn’t believe the casting director simply didn’t seem to believe she had the ability to play the role, all because of her origins. What are actors there for if not to act? But yet, this woman didn’t seem to think she could act post.
“Because I was from Liverpool, she didn’t think I could do an RP accent,” Comer said, chalking her passion for nailing just about every accent possible up to this moment. It’s not about denying her own Scouse accent, but simply about proving that performers from her area can still do it all. “In so many meetings, they are like, ‘Can you lose that?’ ‘Yes, I can. That’s why I’m here!’ But maybe it’s just because it’s so strong. But I think it definitely is a classist thing,” she said of this added doubt and pushback she’s experienced that she knows performers from the south haven’t faced.
