“It’s just been a tremendous gift that I am really, really grateful for,” Killing Eve star Sandra Oh shared during a TCA press conference for the fourth and final season. The final chapter begins tonight at 8/7c on BBC America and AMC+ subscribers can also stream the premiere and finale as they air. Subscribers will also be the first to see episodes 2-7 of the 8-part final season, streaming a week ahead of broadcast. “I was very much actively trying to grow Eve as a character, and I think in that process I had to grow as a person. I had to grow as well. And sometimes that doesn’t happen in the most comfortable ways. It doesn’t come in comfortable ways for Eve. So, I don’t think it necessarily happened in comfortable ways for me. But when you’ve been around enough, you just know those rare times that you’ve been able to be a part of the creation, and as an actor it’s a very special place to be.”
(Claire Rothstein/BBCA)
“You never know what you’re going to get, which is amazing,” Jodie Comer said about coming back to play Villanelle each season. “The show definitely keeps you on your toes and it’s always so exciting getting to sit down with the script and see where it is that we’re headed. Sometimes when you start a season, you have a vague idea of where the story’s going to go, but a lot of the time it gets figured out as you go along and it’s very organic in that way. So it’s always thrilling.”
Killing Eve has followed a tradition of having a new lead writer every season and it’s Laura Neal who has the unenviable task of bringing the story to a close. “It was a huge amount of pressure, but also writing on this show is my dream job,” Laura explained. “So when I came in and I started on Season 3, I thought it couldn’t get any better, and then to be asked to take the lead on Season 4 and to be able to be entrusted with the final season, and the final episode even, just felt like an absolute highlight of my career. And I’ve loved every season of Killing Eve. I mean, I started out just as a massive fan, and so I know Killing Eve is really proud of its tradition of handing over to a new lead writer, female lead writer every season, and I was such a big fan of Phoebe [Waller-Bridge], and of Emerald [Fennell], and of Suzanne [Heathcote]’s work, so to be the last in that line of amazing women is just a massive privilege.”
“Jodie and I were lucky enough to do actually the last shot of the show together,” Sandra Oh revealed about the final day of shooting, careful not to give away any spoilers. “It was very technically challenging. I was really happy that we were together. I think we were both happy that we were together. It’s not slow, what we do. It’s very fast and there’s a lot of moving parts that are moving on a lot. So it’s not like a slow, like, relaxing thing, you have to get out.”
Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle revealed a fun fact for longtime fans, which is that the first scene filmed for Season 1 was also the first scene of the entire series. Likewise, the final scene filmed for Season 4 was the very end of the final episode. “It felt poetically correct,” she revealed about bookending the filming experience for the cast and crew.” Jodie Comer also reflected on the magic of that final shot. “The wonderful thing about that day was Sandra and I were together, so we got to experience that together, which was really special. And the crew were there. A lot of the crew have come back each year. So to have everyone there, it was bittersweet. It was intense. It was a lot. It was overwhelming for sure.”
The journey comes to an end beginning tonight on BBC America and AMC+ at 8/7c.