Killing Eve boss addresses backlash for having all-white writing team – says diversity behind scenes ‘isn’t good enough’
KILLING Eve boss Sally Woodward Gentle has addressed the backlash for her show having an all-white team of writers.
The creator responded to the criticism by admitting the diversity behind the scenes ‘isn’t good enough’.
Despite having an Asian lead character, Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a since-deleted tweet by In My Skin creator Kayleigh Llewellyn revealed Killing Eve had been written by an entirely white writing team.
In a virtual panel held by SeriesFest, Sally, 56 responded to backlash over the lack of diversity in the show’s creative team.
She said: “The make-up of the room should be more racially diverse than it is, and we’re really aware of that and I take full responsibility for it.
“You look at that room and it’s full of brilliant female writers, we’ve got a really strong LGBTQ contingent, but it’s not good enough and we need to do better. We should do better… a show like Killing Eve should be able to do better.”
She added: “The production from the ground up – the entire production – we’re looking at in terms of how we can make concrete change, because it’s incredibly important to us and it’s got to be change that lasts and is effective.
“I think this is an extraordinary moment, and we’ve got to make a difference. It’s not good enough.”
Sandra herself said the UK is “behind” when it comes to the issue of diversity in the film and TV industries.
She explained on Variety’s Actors on Actors series: “The UK, I’m not afraid to say, is behind, I’m not only the only Asian person on set – sometimes it changes, [it’s] very exciting when that does, someone comes on set.
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“But the development of people behind the camera is very slow in the UK. I don’t know about the rest of Europe. Sometimes it would be me and 75 white people and I have not come from that.
Oh’s comments are very similar to the claims made by director Steve McQueen, who branded the UK “shameful” with how far they are in terms of representation.
Season four of Killing Eve has been confirmed although it is unclear when filming will begin for new episodes due to the delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Killing Eve is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.