Trivia / Killing Eve

• Award Category Fraud: By their own admission, BAFTA bent the rules for the first season; ordinarily it would only have been eligible for the International category, but it was nominated for Best Drama Series and four of the acting awards (plus several Craft awards, including Best Writer and Best Director) even though the rules state a show must have been broadcast in the UK first to qualify. BAFTA admitted they bent the rules because they considered it to be a British series despite that.
• Creator Backlash: Luke Jennings, author of the original books, hated the series finale, especially the Bury Your Gays aspect of it.
• Distanced from Current Events: Though a BBC show, it was originally released in the US in spring 2018 and was supposed to then be released in the UK a few weeks later at the start of the summer of 2018. This was quietly postponed a few months until autumn 2018 after a British woman was accidentally murdered in what is believed to be a Russian spy poisoning attack in early July (following other non-fatal poisonings in the UK in the spring) that some parts of the show could be seen as a bit too close to (specifically episode 2, with Sebastian's death being horrifyingly spot on right down to assassination weapon, container, and circumstance).
• Dark Horse Victory: Jodie Comer's Emmy win for Season 2 came as a shock to many since costar Sandra Oh was the perceived frontrunner after winning both the Golden Globe and SAG (while Comer was not nominated for either ceremony nor at the previous year's Emmys) and building up a narrative that she was overdue for her first Emmy. In hindsight, pundits noted that Oh's precursor wins were for the first season, rather than the one they were then competing for in which Comer had earned more buzz, but the victory was still seen as a surprise.
• Enforced Method Acting: Jodie Comer wasn't present for the scene where Eve destroys Villanelle's apartment, and had no clue what it would look like when she got there. Her surprise at just how much Eve utterly trashed the place was genuine as a result.
• Fake American: The Canadian Sandra Oh plays the British-American Eve Polastri.
• Fake Brit: Irish actor Fiona Shaw as the very English Carolyn Martens. Shaw wanted to use her own accent for the role, but it was pointed out that Irish people aren't allowed to work for MI5.
• Fake Nationality:
  • The Russian characters Villanelle and Konstantin are played by Brit Jodie Comer and Dane Kim Bodnia respectively.
  • The Polish Niko Polastri is played by the Irish Owen McDonnell.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Sandra Oh later stated in an interview that for the scene where Eve and Villanelle make out on the road in the last episode she and Jodie Comer were given no instructions, but just to walk along and "do what feels right".
• Irony as She Is Cast: Jodie Comer, who as Villanelle speaks at least 4 languages (English, French, Italian, Russian) fluently and with perfect accents, actually isn't fluent in the languages herself. Turns out she had an excellent language coach who taught her how to read the lines with phonetic accuracy, making them actually sound real and plausible.
• Sleeper Hit: This show's viewership has greatly benefited from good word of mouth once it hit streaming services, especially in the States. The first season was only aired on BBC America in its first run so a lot of people missed it. By season 2, people were able to find it on both Hulu and BBC's partner AMC's streaming service. Season 2's ratings on live viewings were roughly doubled from the first.
• Star-Making Role: The show gave Jodie Comer a big boost in fame in addition to a number of accolades.
• Talent Double: British international elite gymnast Lucy Stanhope doubled for Dasha in the 1974-era gymnastics scene (thus explaining why she's doing a modern bars routine on modern equipment — nobody trains '70s-era uneven bars anymore).
• Throw It In!: Jodie Comer confirmed that the champagne cork popping◊ in a certain scene wasn't supposed to happen; her surprised reaction is genuine.
• Troubled Production: Each season has a completely different production team, and has to throw in a quick explanation for the previous season's actors who didn't come back.
• Word of God: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jodie Comer, and director Harry Bradbeer drew inspiration for Vilanelle's characterization in the series from Margaret Qualley's performance in the Spike Jonze-directed ad for Kenzo World.

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