Jodie Comer

Jodie Comer was born in Liverpool on 11 March 1993, the daughter of Merseyrail employee Donna and Everton FC physiotherapist James Comer. She has a younger brother named Charlie, born in 1995. Comer grew up in Liverpool's Childwall suburb and attended St Julie's Catholic High School in its neighbouring Woolton suburb, where she became close friends with future Olympic athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson. At the age of 11, she started acting at a weekend drama school called CALS in the Belle Vale area of Liverpool. Through CALS, Comer entered the Liverpool Performing Arts Festival in 2006 at St George's Hall and came first in her category after performing a monologue about the Hillsborough disaster. While in high school, Comer's friends kicked her out of their dance group when a holiday with her family clashed with rehearsals for the school's talent show, prompting her to instead perform her Hillsborough disaster monologue for the show. Although she did not win, her performance prompted her drama teacher to call in a favour from friends in the entertainment industry, allowing her to audition for a BBC Radio 4 play. This became her first acting job, with her co-stars advising her to get an agent and telling her that she could have a successful acting career.