KILLING EVE’s Carolyn is the Champ at Withholding Information, But Fiona Shaw Says Daunting New Pressures Await

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Fiona Shaw of CTV Drama Channel’s KILLING EVE deserves a unique award for an achievement that is nothing short of remarkable. Think about it: On a show with as many shady and shadowy characters as KILLING EVE, Shaw’s character – Carolyn Martens – is arguably the most mysterious of them all! So let’s send Shaw a virtual award for that incredible accomplishment. “Thank you very much,” said Shaw over the phone. “I’m accepting it on my own behalf, virtually.” Season 3 of KILLING EVE, starring Canadian Sandra Oh as Eve and EMMY® Award winner Jodie Comer as Villanelle, debuted last weekend, and another new episode airs Sunday at 10 p.m. ET. While Oh and Comer understandably have received oodles of acclaim for their performances on this intense series, there’s something about Shaw’s Carolyn – Eve’s former boss at MI6 – that continues to intrigue audiences. “She is a mysterious character, and that has been the great pleasure of playing this, because, you know, what is mysterious?” Shaw said. “Mysterious is people who don’t tell you everything that they could, and withhold. In Carolyn’s case, it’s something that makes her very good at her job. She may not always be right, but by withholding information, you hold power, don’t you?” And that’s a principle that applies not only in KILLING EVE’s fictional universe of international espionage, but also in the real world, according to Shaw. “Even in life, the people who are often the most powerful are the people who don’t say everything all the time,” she said. “And it doesn’t really matter what those people have in their heads. It’s that they’re not responding in the way that we’re all brought up to do, which is to go, ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ They don’t always reply, necessarily.” Carolyn’s considerable abilities notwithstanding, as Season 3 began she was in trouble with her bosses, because of the messy way in which Season 2 ended (the first two seasons of KILLING EVE are available for streaming on Crave). “You know, Carolyn is very talented, but she’s not very popular at MI6,” Shaw said. “She costs them a lot of money and she doesn’t always get things right. Many things have had to be cleaned up. She’s a maverick, and we love mavericks, but institutions don’t like them. There are rules in espionage. She just wants the outcome to be correct, and she doesn’t mind how she gets there. In that way she’s a bit like Villanelle. They’re not so far from each other.” While avoiding specific details, this is a SPOILER ALERT to warn that general references to a major occurrence in last Sunday’s episode of KILLING EVE are about to be discussed. So with that said, it was put to Shaw that viewers are perhaps about to see a different side of Carolyn. “I think that’s a good sign of a third (season), where the plot jumps way off from where it was,” Shaw said. “So this person’s function, which was to reassure, and guide, and be in charge, and control, suddenly gets shaken up. This is the worst thing that could have happened to Carolyn, because she’s not someone who has access to the usual abilities to grieve. She doesn’t have the temperament for it. So this is a very human moment in a series that has so many surreal moments.” Any opportunity to get to know Carolyn better will be welcomed by the many fans who are fascinated by this heretofore calm enigma. So having been unofficially honoured for playing the most mysterious character on KILLING EVE, where is Shaw going to put the award? On her mantle? In a trophy case? “Well, if it’s a virtual award, it can go anywhere it likes,” Shaw correctly concluded. “I can put it on the ceiling when I go to sleep, or put it on the floor when I’m squatting. I’ll move it around.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv