PURE EVE-IL
How Killing Eve’s Villanelle is inspired by psychopathic mum who lured a disabled man to her house for sex then spent days torturing him by drilling nails into his head
AS Killing Eve's globe-trotting Russian assassin, Villanelle is known for her cold-blooded killings, glamorous style and deadly acts of seduction.
But what many fans of the BBC show won't realise is that the assassin, played by Jodie Comer, is actually modelled on a real-life killer - who tortured and dismembered a disabled man, then set his body on fire.
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Mum-of-four Angela Simpson spent three days torturing her victim, Terry Neely, after luring him to her home in Arizona, U.S, with the promise of sex and drugs.
She pulled out the terrified 46-year-old's teeth and drove nails into his head, before finally murdering him, dismembering his body and setting pieces of it on fire.
Simpson lured unsuspecting Neely to her home and murdered him in August 2009 after he left an assisted-care facility in his motorised wheelchair.
But in a disturbing jailhouse video interview, Simpson coldly laughs and reveals the only thing she regrets about the murder is not torturing her victim for longer.
"I'd have kept him alive a week," says the killer, who is serving life behind bars.
"Oh, I'd have tortured him for a week, yeah, instead of three days, definitely."
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Cold, calculated or childish?
A court heard how she stabbed, strangled and tortured the victim - including bashing him with a metal lever - before his charred remains were discovered in a blazing rubbish bin.
But when asked if she was remorseful for her crime during her jailhouse interview, Simpson replies: "Not at all... why would I be?"
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She describes how she took "white trash" Neely to her home, "walked him upstairs, kicked his a*** and killed him" after he allegedly confessed to "snitching" on someone.
She says she "found it necessary" to drive nails into his head and extract his teeth.
And when asked by the interviewer whether she believed Neely really was a "snitch", she childishly responds: "Oops if he wasn't."
Simpson was caged for life after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in what Phoenix police dubbed "one of the most heinous homicide cases the department has ever seen."
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The video interview, which was posted on YouTube and watched by the hit BBC show's creators, influenced the creation of innocent-looking Villanelle who has psychopathic traits.
'I deserved the death penalty'
Simpson is cold and composed for the majority of the 2012 clip, telling the interviewer that she isn't remorseful at all for her horrific crime.
But once she thinks the camera has been turned off her behaviour suddenly changes, and she excitedly declares: "That's going to be wicked! Make it look good, please!"
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Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who spied "gold dust" in the footage, told the that Simpson suddenly "sounds so girlie" at the end of it.
In contrast, when she was bragging about the murder she "sounds more like a psycho than anyone has ever sounded", Waller-Bridge added.
These traits were incorporated into the character of Villanelle, who often jumps between a merciless killer and a childish, playful prankster in the drama.
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Killing Eve season 2 trailer shows murderer Villanelle on new rampage where she confronts an Instagram star
In the video footage, Simpson smiles when asked about her life sentence.
She remarks: "You know, I've got a lot of family in prison and I'm OK with that.
"I got many sisters in prison, I can't wait to see them. It's really not that much of a punishment to be sentenced to spend my life with my family."
She adds that she believes she "should have gotten the death penalty".
The interviewer later comments that such brutal crimes are "usually the domain of men" - to which, with a sickening grin, Simpson replies: "That's unfortunate."
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Killing Eve returned for season two in the US on Sunday night, airing on BBC America - but Simpson's shocking interview wasn't the only source of inspiration for the show.
While the programme is also based on Luke Jennings' Codename Villanelle novellas, other influences have reportedly included My Favourite Murder, the hit true crime comedy podcast.
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In the second season, murderous Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer, is back - and she appears to be more fashionable, sassy and dangerous than ever.
A trailer shows how Eve, played by Sandra Oh, is still hot on the stylish assassin's tail as she makes her way around Europe.
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The season opener immediately follows on from the season one finale when a stunned Villanelle was stabbed by Eve.
Season One was penned by talented Waller-Bridge, but with her new series of Fleabag out, she has handed over series two to new writer, Emerald Fennell.
However, eager British viewers will have to wait for the new season - with the BBC yet to announce the date for a UK premiere - to see what the assassin does next.
Making Killing Eve
AS viewers await the new series, Phoebe has revealed some of the other inspirations behind Killing Eve . . .
The thrust of the plot comes from a series of novellas by English author Luke Jennings published in 2014-2016.
They were combined in 2018 to make spy thriller novel Codename Villanelle.
Phoebe also asked a friend who was obsessed by true-crime podcasts, such as My Favourite Murder, to talk her through the genre.
Her pal told her: “I like feeling that vacuous emptiness in my soul when I realise there are people out there who can do this. It puts me in a victim position, and it makes me feel alive.” Perhaps the most surprising influence was an advert for Kenzo perfume in which a woman begins pulling wild facial expressions at a dinner party.
Phoebe wanted Jodie to play Villanelle with the same level of unpredictability.
Coen brothers’ 2007 film No Country For Old Men also inspired the feel.
Harry Bradbeer, who directed the first two episodes, wanted the camera to create the same level of intimacy between the audience and Villanelle as you get in that movie, so had the camera closely studying her face.
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