Killing Eve star Jodie Comer speaks at the Baftas last night after winning the award
Killing Eve star Jodie Comer last night dedicated her best actress Bafta to her inspirational late grandmother who used to tell her: ‘You get it off me you know.’
The 26-year-old actress said her grandmother Frances, who died aged 73 in July 2017, passed away during the first week of filming for the hit BBC drama.
She added that Frances, who was the ‘life and soul of everything’, never got to see her character Villanelle, a relentless assassin who becomes obsessed with an MI5 agent played by Sandra Oh.
Neighbours of Frances in Liverpool told MailOnline today that she was a ‘dead proud’ grandmother who came out into the street with Comer’s photograph after she was born in March 1993.
Locals also revealed she was a ‘lovely person’ and an Everton football fan who often hosted parties at her terraced home in the Toxteth area with husband Jimmy.
Frances’s former neighbour Dorothy Warriner, 85, said: ‘Frances was outspoken and she was lovely. I remember when Jodie was born, she was a big baby.
Jodie Comer with grandmother Frances Comer, who was said to have been ‘dead proud’ of her
Comer’s grandmother Frances, who also lived in Liverpool, died aged 73 in July 2017
Frances Comer is pictured with Jodie Comer’s mother Donna, 55, who is a transport worker
‘Frances came out into the street with her photograph. She was a dead proud grandmother. They lived there for about 20 odd years.
‘She was always out seeing people. They had loads of friends. They were always having parties and everybody more or less knew them.’
Neighbour John Fowler added: ‘She was a lovely person was Frances, a really nice woman.’
Comer, who still lives in Liverpool with her transport worker mother Donna, 55, and masseur father Jimmy, 54, paid tribute to Frances in last night’s speech.
She told the Baftas: ‘I’d love to dedicate this award to my nanna Frances, who sadly passed away the first week of filming, so she never got to see Villanelle.
Comer is pictured (right) with friends at school. She began her acting journey in Liverpool, where she developed a passion for drama
Comer starred in hit BBC drama Killing Eve, playing a relentless assassin called Villanelle
Comer told the Baftas last night that her grandmother ‘was the life and soul of everything’
‘She was the life and soul of everything, and when she was here she used to say to me: ”You get it off me you know”.
Comer poses with her Bafta award last night
‘And I just want to stand up here and say ‘Nanna Frances, you were absolutely right all along’. Thank you so much Bafta!’
She also paid tribute in her speech at the Royal Festival Hall to Line Of Duty star Stephen Graham for offering her significant support in the early days of her career.
Comer’s grandmother, who was also known as ‘Franna’, died on July 20, 2017 and her funeral was on July 28 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Liverpool.
A funeral notice said she would be ‘sadly missed by all her family and friends’ and invited everyone to ‘wear something blue for Franna’ at the ceremony.
Comer told The Sunday Times earlier this month that a famous scene in Killing Eve featuring her in a pink dress was filmed after she had been to Frances’s funeral.
It was at this point that she realised she got her acting talent from Frances, telling the newspaper: ‘It was that bittersweet thing of saying, ‘I wish I could say it to you now, and I can’t.’
Jodie Comer is pictured with her mother Donna, with whom she still lives in Liverpool
Comer appeared in BBC drama Doctor Foster alongside Bertie Carvel, joining the cast in 2015
Comer played Ivy Moxam in the BBC’s Thirteen alongside and Aneurin Barnard as Tim Hobson
Speaking after the Baftas last night, Comer said used to watch the ceremony as a child and dreamed of being there.
Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jodie Comer pose with their Baftas for Killing Eve
She said: ‘I always watched Bafta many, many years on my own in my room and I would think ‘oh my God, I want to be in that place’. It’s incredible.
‘You can’t anticipate how something is going to go down with an audience.’
Comer began her acting journey in Liverpool, where she developed a passion for drama.
Her school acting skills quickly drew her to the attention of BBC Radio 4, which then led to appearances in Holby City, Silent Witness and Casualty, before joining the cast of Doctor Foster in 2015.
In 2018, she began her work in Killing Eve, which would bring her fame on both sides of the Atlantic.
Comer revealed Taylor Swift has followed her television career and appreciated her before the phenomenon of Killing Eve.
She said: ‘I actually met Taylor Swift backstage at the Golden Globes and she said that she loved Doctor Foster when it was on TV. Taylor Swift has watched Doctor Foster, that’s incredible.’