Killing Eve returns in the UK on 8 June, it has been confirmed. While we impatiently count down the days, some surprising news about one of our favourite characters has been revealed…

Casting Fiona Shaw as Carolyn Martens in Killing Eve was yet another genius move by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Who else could play Eve Polastri’s (Sandra Oh) cool, erudite and rebellious boss so perfectly? While picking up her Bafta for Best Supporting Actress earlier this year, Shaw described the role as being “probably the greatest pleasure of my life”.

But, according to one of the show’s producers, there was a point when Carolyn might have been played by a man. Speaking at the press screening of Killing Eve series two, Sally Gentle revealed that the MI6 agent was a male character in Luke Jenning’s Villanelle novels – which the series is based on – but they quickly realised they wanted Shaw to play the role instead of a man.

Watch the Killing Eve series two trailer

Killing Eve: this character was originally meant to be portrayed by a man