As deadly assassin Villanelle in BBC’s hit series “Killing Eve,” Jodie Comer seamlessly slips in and out of accents and nationalities to throw detectives off the scent. So convincing were her Russian, French and various U.K. accented alter-egos, fans could hardly believe it when they discovered the 26-year-old actress’ own true identity — and her distinct Scouse accent. In fact Comer, who hails from a suburb south of Liverpool, has spent years honing the accent skills that won her a Bafta on Sunday — and they even helped secure her stage debut. The Daily Mail’s exclusive pictures show the actress, then just 17, starring in her first play “The Price of Everything” at the Stephen Joseph Theater in Scarborough. Director Noreen Kershaw said she was blown away by Comer’s audition in 2010, stunning with her “cut-glass English accent.” Kershaw had to promise Comer’s parents Donna and Jimmy, a physiotherapist at Everton FC, that their daughter — still just a schoolgirl — would be well looked after away from their modest semi-detached home. The show, in which Comer played the daughter of a middle-class couple with money woes, ran for three weeks. It was reviewed by The Times, with praise for Comer who gave a “sensationally natural, well-judged performance: lairy, challenging, then suddenly childlike.” Kershaw said, “She was absolutely brilliant to work with, even at that age she was very focused about the kind of work she wanted to do.” The director praised Comer’s “strong presence,” adding that she was “totally unfazed” by performing on a stage so close to the audience, in a cast of just three. “She’s got an innate talent. She’s fantastic with accents; she has a presence; the camera just loves her. She has a luminescence and is naturally beautiful, but most of all she is grounded,” she added. Prior to the play Comer had performed in school plays, including “Hairspray” and “Aladdin,” at St. Julie’s Catholic High School in Woolton, Liverpool. She was part of a school dance troupe that won a national competition — Boogie for Your Bones — judged by Craig Revel Horwood from “Strictly Come Dancing,” with Comer, then 13, performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. While at school, Comer landed her first paid job in a BBC Radio 4 play, which led to small television roles in daytime soap “The Royal Today,” “Holby City” and “Waterloo Road.” Jo Roberts, her performing arts teacher, said, “As an 11-year-old I remember her telling me ‘I want to be an actress.’ “She was very quiet but determined. I had no doubt she would make it as she was so creative and in loads of shows. “She once had the whole school in stitches after doing a dance based on being a deer, which involved her performing kind of mock charges.” But it was her run in “The Price of Everything” that landed the aspiring actress her big television break in 2011, after Kershaw encouraged friend and producer Colin McKeown to cast Comer in his BBC1 Liverpool-based drama series “Justice.” After a stint in the acclaimed comedy series “My Mad Fat Diary,” Comer went on to star in “Thirteen” in 2016 — receiving a Bafta nomination for her portrayal as a kidnap victim. She then played aloof mistress Kate Parks in the 2017 BBC1 drama “Dr. Foster” — showing off her flair for accents as a 20-something from the metropolitan London area. The cut-glass accent would then come in handy a year later in her starring role in “Killing Eve” — for which she won a best actress Bafta on Sunday. And with 1.5 million viewers tuning in to watch the first series finale, Comer looks set to dazzle millions more when the second installment airs in next month. (SD-Agencies) | 