Interview with Sally Woodward Gentle
Sally Woodward Gentle is an Executive Producer on Killing Eve.
Published: 29 May 2019
It’s quite an eccentric show, so for it to have caught in America and the rest of the world is quite a big thing.
How did Killing Eve evolve and what has the reaction been like since season one aired?
Killing Eve came about a few years ago. We are a tiny company at Sid Gentle Films, and a friend of the company was at a dinner party with Luke Jennings who had written the novellas. She passed them to us and we really liked them. I loved the two women at the centre and how they weren’t being objectified. The novellas were stylish and intelligent and felt like a fresh approach to the female assassin, but I wanted to strike a much bigger difference.
I’d previously met Phoebe Waller-Bridge having read her one woman play, Fleabag, and so I sent her the novellas. She loved them and we developed the script with her. BBC America then got involved and completely got the tone and the different thing it could do.
The success of the show is quite weird for a small company. When we made the show we were in a little bubble, doing our own thing and hoping that people would like it. It’s quite an eccentric show, so for it to have caught in America and the rest of the world is quite a big thing. It’s hard to put your finger on what it is that people have responded to but I think it’s a testament to being bold in your storytelling and tonally and not being afraid to be really entertaining at the same time as being edgy.
Can you tell us how season two kicks off and a bit about the overall plot?
Season two kicks off 30 seconds after we finish season one. Eve is in total shock at what she’s done and Villanelle is desperately wounded. Despite the fact that she is a psychopath, she is a human being.
The whole season is then about what that means to both of them. Does the fact that Eve stabbed Villanelle confirm to her that there is some sort of love there and that Eve is obsessed with her? For Eve, what does it say about the kind of person she is that she can cold-bloodedly stab someone?
As we start season two, we know that Villanelle will naturally been drawn to Eve and that, despite herself, Eve can’t help but be flattered and seduced by Villanelle’s attention. They will inevitably come together and so the big question is, can you control a psychopath?
What are the key story themes for season two?
In season two we continue with the theme of the Twelve: what they’re really about, and how deeply any of our characters may be involved with them. We have an additional layer this year, with a new character who may be up to no good and who is linked with the group. Our characters have to deal with a series of murders he could be implicated in. But there is a much bigger game afoot.
What has it been like working with Emerald Fennell this season?
Emerald is an extraordinary writer and great friends with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, so it felt like a natural baton passing on to her. She is as naughty and inventive as Phoebe but she brings a different flavour to the storytelling. It’s really exciting to put a new, distinctive female voice at the centre of the show. Luke Jennings’ novellas were the genesis of the two characters, but we very quickly ran out of story because you need to turn around scripts much faster than an author can write new stories.
Half of season one was bound free of the books and season two is completely different, and original to Emerald and the other writers. Luke’s brilliant characters continue to live on though.
How has Eve evolved from season one to season two?
In season one, Eve is clearly bored with what she is doing at work and possibly in her relationship. She is obsessed with female assassins and killers and suddenly one comes into her midst in the form of Villanelle. At the end of the season Villanelle is also obsessed with her, and Eve has stabbed her.
So in season two we have a woman who has accessed something darker within herself that she can’t put back. She has also realised that she can be the object of obsession for someone as extraordinary as Villanelle. Season two explores what that does to Eve’s ego, moral core and sense of morality in the face of it. Sandra’s performance is fabulous, it is multi-layered and complex. Eve is a deeply flawed character but the audience can relate to her. She takes us to the edge and that’s what becomes fascinating about her.
How has Villanelle evolved from season one to season two?
In season one we learn that Villanelle is someone who can become easily obsessed with individuals, and deluded about what they mean to her life, which is classic psychopathic behaviour. She is clearly obsessed by Eve but we also see that she had the same attitude towards Anna - and look what happened to her.
Because of that in season two we realise that their relationship can only last so long, and that Eve is in a great deal of peril. Jodie is an instinctive performer and a total genius - observing her is like watching magic.
