Killing Eve's Villanelle is a psychotic killer who murders in cold-blood, but why do we find ourselves rooting for her in the BBC thriller?
The assassin wears classy designer gear, eats elegant canapes and has a wicked sense of humour, but she never uses her sex appeal to get out of tricky situations.
Jodie Comer, who plays Villanelle in the hit drama, says writer Pheobe Waller-Bridge was insistent that she would not 'sex her victims to death' or get any sexual gratification for her murders.
"What I loved so much about the script, and one of the rules Pheobe had was that no matter what - whether or not people may find Villanelle sext, she's never using it to get out of a bad situation, or to better herself in any way," she told Harper's Bazaar.
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"And that was a rule that Pheobe continued throughout. It's so refreshing to not have to worry about that."
Somehow, this adds to Villanelle's appeal, leaving her completely captivating and even encouraging viewers to root for her, despite her role as a murderous baddie.
Jodie believes this is down to Pheobe's innovative writing, finally showing off a female villain from a woman's perspective.
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The eight-series blends thrilling drama with hilarious comedy, and will now be available to stream on BBC iPlayer for the next year.
Jodie continued: "This is written by a woman who is different and will say the unsaid, and that's what Villanelle is about.
"There's this perception that all women can bring to the table is their sexuality, which is ridiculous."
The drama sees MI5 operative Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) become completely obsessed with her mission to hunt the elusive killer.
On first glance it would seem Eve is the hero of the series, but as her obsession grows and becomes somewhat unprofessional, viewers begin to question whether her motives are genuine.
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Pheobe Waller-Bridge told the BBC: "Villanelle is a really challenging character because obviously she's a psychopath, so 'how do you make people care about a psychopath?' is the question that kept coming up early on - and the answer is to cast Jodie Comer!
"She is the warmest, cheekiest, most alive and present actor. She can create this inner world in a person with the type of psychology that could easily be dismissed as one thing; she's brought so much complexity to this character and so much vulnerability to her that she's bizarrely relatable in Jodie's hands."
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: Killing Eve, TV News, TV Entertainment