Jodie Comer shares unexpected realisation she made after starring in Ryan Reynolds film

‘28 Years Later’ star suggested she’ll avoid similar projects in the future

Jodie Comer has shared the career conclusion she made after starring in Ryan Reynolds film Free Guy.

The British actor, who hails from Liverpool, shot to fame after starring in hit show Killing Eve and has gone on to earn acclaim for her role in West End and Broadway play Prima Facie.

She made her film debut in 2021’s Free Guy, an action comedy directed by Shawn Levy. It stars Ryan Reynolds as a man who discovers he is a non-player character in a multiplayer online game.

While Comer acknowledged that she enjoyed her time making the film, she revealed the experience led to a realisation about her career.

“It was my first film and I had the most amazing experience on that job – they were just the most gentle, inclusive, supportive people, and it was incredibly fun,” she told GQ.

“But I realised, when I was coming home, ‘Ah, there’s something I’m not feeling. I feel like I’m not stretching. Or not discovering.’ And I realised that it was the emotional part of it. I wasn’t exercising [that] part of myself.”

Comer continued: “I realised that’s actually where I get my fulfilment – trying to find those places.”

The actor, who also starred in Jack Thorne’s Covid drama Help, said she no longer wants to take on projects that leave her feeling held back emotionally.

“If the instincts aren’t there, if I’m not excited by it, then I just don’t want to go near it because then I’m pulling from an artificial place. It feels almost dishonest with myself.”

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Free Guy was a box office hit, making $331.5m (£244.3m) The film also stars Lil Rel Howery, Taika Waititi and Stranger Things actor Joe Keery.

(20th Century Studios)

Comer will next be seen in 28 Days Later sequel 28 Years Later, which is set to be released on 19 June.

The film, directed by Danny Boyle, stars Ralph Fiennes, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jack O’Connell, and is the first of a planned trilogy of sequels to the 2002 post-apocalypse horror.

In the film, Comer will have a Geordie accent, a challenge she prepared for by watching footage of Girls Aloud star Cheryl on old episodes of The X Factor.