Jodie Comer Talks ‘The Death of Robin Hood’ Ending and the Want for Revisionist Tales

[This story contains spoilers for The Death of Robin Hood.]

In 2021, Jodie Comer, like so many people, was fully taken with Michael Sarnoski’s Pig. 

The actor and filmmaker occurred to share the identical expertise company, so that they agreed to have a basic assembly over Zoom as a way to categorical mutual admiration for each other. A 12 months later, the 2 randomly discovered themselves seated subsequent to one another at a cocktail party the place they acquired to know one another some extra. But it surely took till 2024 for the celebs to lastly align professionally due to Sarnoski’s revision story  referred to as The Loss of life of Robin Hood. 

The slow-burn thriller is partially based mostly on a seventeenth century ballad by which the heroic outlaw’s cousin, a malevolent prioress, bleeds the older, ailing Robin to loss of life below the guise of the traditional medical remedy often known as bloodletting. Comer rapidly agreed to play the healer for the writer-director and in addition share uniquely intimate scenes with Hugh Jackman’s Robin Hood, particularly since she’d briefly labored with the latter on a musical that didn’t take flight.

However Comer and Jackman’s roles reverse the ballad’s depictions. The prioress, regarded right here as Sister Brigid, is as benevolent as one may be, and he or she shares no familial relation to the famed Robin Hood. Gravely wounded, he’s left on the doorstep of her island priory the place she nurses him again to ok well being by bloodletting and remedy. But it surely’s not till the third act that Brigid catches as much as the viewers and learns that the person she’s come to know as “Randolph” is definitely Robin Hood, the murderous brigand who burned her household alive years earlier. He might have stolen silver from the corrupt higher class to assist these much less lucky, however not like the legends advised about him, he triggered much more ache and destruction.

As the top of a spiritual island group that stresses forgiveness, Sister Brigid comes dangerously near adopting the treacherous nun persona from the supply materials. She slices Robin’s arm throughout a bloodletting session, however as an alternative of letting his blood withdrawal change into deadly, she stops herself from avenging her household.

“Where has that gotten anyone? Where has it gotten Robin? She’s braced with a moment of, Now you have to practice what you preach,” Comer tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s easy to speak of these things, but it’s actually about how you are able to act on that within your own life.”

Robin finally authorizes her to chop his arm open once more in order that he can launch himself from his private anguish and in addition maintain Brigid’s home protected from his enemies, outdated and new. However understanding that voluntary euthanasia continues to be a hotly debated topic, Comer wonders how the viewers will course of her character’s help in Robin’s suicide. She hopes that they acknowledge the very completely different intentions behind the ultimate bloodletting scene and the previous one which flirted with vengeance. Keep in mind, she tried to cease the bleeding on the ultimate go-round too, however he used the final of his power to fend her off.

“I don’t know whether there will be, for some people, an ambiguity about her assistance within his death. I don’t know that people will surmise what her motivation is or if it will come across as being pure,” Comer says. “There’s a massive contradiction that she has to deal with within that, but I was always very struck by the grace that she’s able to find in that moment. She has this ability to not meet pain with pain or violence with violence.”

The Loss of life of Robin Hood shares a pair through-lines with two of Comer’s different current movies, The Finish We Begin From (2023) and 28 Years Later (2025). In all three, her characters spend time in peaceable island communities that function exceptions to the cruel worlds that encompass them. And every girl goes to nice lengths to take care of her personal kids or different individuals’s kids. Admittedly, the thematic overlap by no means registered with Comer till now.

“Maybe I need to become a mother. I don’t know. Maybe I’m living something out in my acting that I should investigate more in my own life,” Comer says. “They all have themes that I’m always very much drawn to, but I do find it fascinating when people pick up on threads that I am not necessarily aware of in the process.”

Beneath, throughout a dialog with THR, Comer — who’s “excited” to reunite with Sarnoski on Damon Lindelof’s upcoming adaptation of The Chain for HBO — additionally discusses how revisionist tales are essential within the period of remakes and reboots.

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So you liked Pig like the remainder of us, and apparently, you and Michael Sarnoski had a basic shortly thereafter. Who initiated? 

Effectively, we’ve the identical agent, which is gorgeous. They very kindly launched us on a Zoom after I’d watched Pig. It should’ve been round COVID time, and it was a bit extra formal since you’re assembly somebody for the primary time with the hopes of working with them. Then, most likely a couple of 12 months later, we sat subsequent to one another at a dinner. In order that was a pleasant alternative to satisfy him in a extra informal sense and never essentially speak about work.

A few years later, the script for The Loss of life of Robin Hood got here by, and being an enormous fan [of Michael’s], I used to be so excited. I didn’t obtain any kind of premise or log line; I used to be simply despatched the script. So I learn it, and I assumed it was so gorgeous and shocking. I used to be enamored by his interpretation and the way poetic the script felt to me. So I simply jumped on the probability to have the ability to work with him.

I take into account this the third movie in your “island” trilogy. The Finish We Begin From, 28 Years Later and The Loss of life of Robin Hood every have these remoted island communities, and your characters take care of youngsters in several methods throughout all three tales. I’m positive you weren’t aware of those through-lines on the time, however in hindsight, are you able to acknowledge why you’re drawn to maternal and caregiving themes?

Perhaps I must change into a mom. I don’t know. Perhaps I’m residing one thing out in my performing that I ought to examine extra in my very own life. I can’t say that I used to be conscious of that, however all of these tales really feel intimate, tactile and really human. The nuance and emotionality of the human situation, and the way we behave with one another, is one thing I actually get pleasure from seeing and experiencing in my very own life. So all of them have themes that I’m at all times very a lot drawn to, however I do discover it fascinating when individuals decide up on threads that I’m not essentially conscious of within the course of.

Your character, Sister Brigid, is compassionate to no finish, however within the supply materials, the prioress character is really evil. Would you’ve got nonetheless performed the function if she was written as such?

I don’t actually know if I can reply that absolutely as a result of I used to be by no means introduced with it. There have been elements of Robin Hood that I used to be conscious of, however I wasn’t overly aware of the folklore, so I wasn’t evaluating her to previous iterations. However I most likely would’ve performed that model of her as a result of I needed to work with Michael. Fortunately, I used to be dealt very completely different playing cards, which was lovely. 

(Spoiler Warning.) I don’t know what individuals’s expertise of the movie will likely be, however there’s a revelation of a connection that Robin has to her previous. Unknowingly, he has been an enormous catalyst in her life, and he has triggered a variety of ache. I don’t know whether or not there will likely be, for some individuals, an ambiguity about her help inside his loss of life. I don’t know that folks will surmise what her motivation is or if it should come throughout as being pure. There’s an enormous contradiction that she has to cope with inside that, however I used to be at all times very struck by the grace that she’s capable of finding in that second. She has this capacity to not meet ache with ache or violence with violence. She speaks lots about philosophy and mythology. So I felt that she would take into account it virtually kismet that she’s assembly him later in her life, particularly with him being within the susceptible scenario he’s in, and the way she has been bestowed with the function of caring for him in that second. There was one thing in that that I actually loved.

(Spoiler Warning.) Previous to the ending you simply alluded to, there’s a darkish scene the place she tries the treacherous nun character on for measurement. However then she catches herself as a result of she doesn’t wish to additional the cycle of violence that led all of them there.

Proper! The place has that gotten anybody? The place has it gotten Robin? She’s usually sharing tales or giving recommendation or giving a standpoint, after which she’s braced with a second of, Now it’s a must to follow what you preach. It’s simple to talk of this stuff, nevertheless it’s truly about how you’ll be able to act on that inside your personal life.

Robin Hood has lengthy been a mascot for social justice, anti-corruption and anti-greed, however this film posits that there’s a a lot darker facet to the folklore round him. What was your first impression of Michael’s revionist tackle this determine that we’ve all been raised to suppose is a hero?

Effectively, Michael went again to the early 14th century poetry to discover one thing that did really feel historical but in addition new and actual. This exploration isn’t one-dimensional or absolute, nevertheless it feels rather more actual to what you think about the world might have seemed like in that point. There’s nothing fantastical about it. It’s very gritty and grounded, and I simply liked it. It’s a perspective that has by no means been seen earlier than, and it felt wholly authentic to Michael. 

In a world the place we discover and remake a variety of the identical materials, it’s truly actually thrilling and essential that we give area for one thing new to be birthed out of it. Typically, we are able to get fairly possessive about what our interpretation or expertise is of a widely known story. So it’s nice when a storyteller or a filmmaker comes together with a special vantage level. 

I liked working with Michael as a result of the piece was so of him. He’d spent a lot time with it. Whenever you work with a director who’s additionally written the fabric, you simply wish to be in service in an enormous method. There’s a cinematic scope to this movie that’s so breathtaking, however he equally prioritizes emotional arc and character improvement. I’ve undoubtedly had experiences with administrators the place one has been extra outstanding than the opposite, so it was nice to work with somebody who was so engaged in all of it.

That is an business that additionally creates its personal legendary figures. Even Hugh Jackman has a bit of little bit of that fame at this stage of his lengthy and assorted profession. Does all of that fade away as quickly as cameras roll?

Completely. You neglect that as quickly as you meet Hugh. Due to the character of the enterprise, there may be a lot projection onto individuals. We’re at all times projecting our model of them or who we interpret them to be. However persons are individuals on the finish of the day, particularly Hugh. What you see is what you get. There’s an power about him that makes you are feeling such as you’ve identified him for some time, and he’s extremely beneficiant and personable and delicate and engaged. So you are taking individuals as you discover them, and it’s at all times fantastic if you happen to’re led by somebody who has these qualities. It instantly relaxes all people.

I initially assumed that your historical past with Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds would’ve had one thing to do with you and Hugh teaming up for this film, however I didn’t know that the 2 of you briefly labored collectively on some sort of musical that by no means acquired made. 

Yeah, we spent a number of days doing a writing workshop for one thing. I got here to New York, and I spent three days with him in an workplace setting, which was beautiful. I did work so intently with Ryan and Shawn on Free Man, they usually clearly have a really shut relationship with Hugh. So I’m positive that Hugh requested them how I used to be on set. You at all times do this if you happen to’re contemplating working with somebody. You’ll ask individuals, “What was your experience with this person?” So I’m positive that occurred on some stage.

What Michael did so nicely in Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One was depict characters consuming collectively in a significant method. Most motion pictures or exhibits shoot or lower round it. 

Actors keep away from it too.

It additionally drives me mad when a personality makes an elaborate meal for the remainder of their household, and the household barely touches the meals earlier than heading out the door. Thus, one in every of my favourite scenes in Robin Hood is a quiet scene with Brigid, Robin/Randolph and Margaret consuming soup collectively. Is it fairly uncommon so that you can have a director who cares that a lot about consuming scenes?

That’s attention-grabbing. And it’s humorous, isn’t it? I like to eat. It’s such a giant a part of our lives, and it’s one thing we share a lot with others. So I’m with you. When there’s a eating scene on display, I’ll discover the actors flicking their meals round their plate.

Or they’ll have an enormous wad of meals tucked away of their cheek. 

Yeah, I’m like, “You’ve got to eat the food!” (Laughs.) However that soup scene is kind of a giant scene inside the movie, and I’m glad you loved it. What I bear in mind most about that scene was I needed to carry the bowls in such a method that my thumbs needed to go within the soup to hold them. 

I simply had this actual dialog with Rebecca Hall, solely it was Seth Rogen’s thumb within the cappuccino he delivered her on The Studio. It’s so bizarre that you simply introduced this up.

(Laughs.) Yeah, it’s like if you happen to have been at a restaurant and somebody introduced you your soup or cappuccino with their thumb in it. The spoon was so giant and so picket as nicely. It was all very true to the time and really transformative. There’s an intimacy to sharing a meal with somebody, and I really feel like I’ve achieved a variety of it, truthfully. Villanelle [on Killing Eve] was consuming on a regular basis, so I’ll do something that makes it really feel extra true to life. 

I don’t find out about you, however I stay alone. If I’m dwelling and I’m consuming, I eat like a feral animal. I’ve most likely eaten half the meal while I’m cooking it. There’s one thing so messy about who we’re once we’re on our personal.

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The Loss of life of Robin Hood is now taking part in in film theaters.