As deadly assassin Villanelle in the BBC's hit series Killing Eve, Jodie Comer seamlessly slips in and out of accents and nationalities to throw detectives off the scent.
So convincing were her Russian, French and Home Counties alter-egos, fans could hardly believe it when they discovered the 26-year-old actress's own true identity – and her Scouse accent.
In fact Miss Comer, who hails from a suburb south of Liverpool, has spent years honing the accent skills that won her a Bafta on Sunday – and they even helped secure her stage debut.
Jodie Comer was part of a school dance troupe that won a national competition – Boogie For Your Bones – judged by Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood, with Miss Comer, then 13, performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. She is pictured winning a BAFTA on Sunday
The Daily Mail's exclusive pictures show the actress, then just 17, starring in her first play The Price of Everything at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.
Director Noreen Kershaw said she was blown away by Miss Comer's audition in 2010, stunning with her 'cut glass English accent'.
'I had been sent a photograph of this girl from Liverpool who had the most wonderful face,' she said.
The Daily Mail's exclusive pictures show the actress, then just 17, starring in her first play The Price of Everything at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough
'I knew we were holding auditions for this upcoming play in Scarborough so asked on the grapevine if I could see her.
Jodie came in with her soft Scouse accent and I remember looking around, because the part was for an upper middle-class girl.
'She just opened her mouth and this cut-glass accent came out – we all nearly fell off our chairs. Her Liverpool accent disappeared. She had learned the audition piece word for word. There was no contest after that.'
Mrs Kershaw had to promise Miss Comer's parents Donna and Jimmy, a physiotherapist at Everton FC, that their daughter – still just a schoolgirl – would be well looked after away from their modest semi-detached home and her younger brother Charlie.
On the opening night, she recalled Mr Comer had borrowed the Everton team's coach and bussed family and friends across the Pennines to see his
'The whole family were just joyous, really lovely,' Mrs Kershaw added.
The show, in which Miss Comer played the daughter of a middle-class couple with money woes, ran for three weeks.
It was reviewed by The Times, with praise for Miss Comer who gave a 'sensationally natural, well-judged performance: Lairy, challenging, then suddenly childlike'.
Miss Comer is circled in costume for a school musical. Prior to the play Miss Comer had performed in school plays, including Hairspray and Aladdin, at St Julie's Catholic High School, Woolton, Liverpool
Mrs Kershaw said: 'She was absolutely brilliant to work with, even at that age she was very focused about the kind of work she wanted to do.'
The director praised Miss Comer's 'strong presence', adding that she was 'totally unfazed' by performing on a stage so close to the audience, in a cast of just
