Queen of winning Emmys!
Fleabag has been showered in awards since it bowed earlier in 2019, and now all eyes are on Phoebe. She’s a powerhouse — she’s an actress, producer, writer, and creator, among many other things.
So, who is she? Why is she suddenly everywhere? Let’s meet her.
“Fleabag” started out as a one-woman show.
The character of Fleabag was created due to a challenge by a friend.
She was originally conceived for a 10-minute set during a standup storytelling night.
The rest, of course, is history.
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“Fleabag” isn’t her first show.
Long before she broke records with Fleabag , Phoebe was working at Channel 4 in the UK.
She wrote and starred in Crashing , a comedy that followed six live-in property managers of a disused hospital.
Her sister is a composer.
Isobel Waller-Bridge is a composer with a close tie to Fleabag .
Phoebe brought her onto the show as its composer. We love a pair of sisters who love to work together!
She was the original showrunner of “Killing Eve.”
Phoebe wrote and produced the first season of Killing Eve , a show adapted from novels by author Luke Jennings.
She was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for her work on the show.
She was originally going to appear in “Killing Eve.”
In the same interview with Tina Fey, she revealed that Killing Eve was originally meant to have her in it.
“The characters had taken me a certain way and I ended up not being right for the casting of it.”
James Bond is in her future.
In 2019, she co-wrote the screenplay for No Time to Die , the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise.
She joined writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who broke the story before bringing her on to complete the script.
Her role with “Bond” is crucial for women.
“[…] it’s mainly about making them feel like real people, you know? Which they do in the previous films.
I think Daniel [Craig’s] films have had really fantastic Bond girls, so it’s just keeping it up.”
She appeared in “Broadchurch.”
She joined the cast of Broadchurch in its second season (or series, for the Brits).
Phoebe played Abby, a barrister who takes on killer Joe Miller’s case. She appeared for 8 episodes.
She is still involved in theater.
Phoebe is the co-artistic director of the DryWrite Theatre Company alongside her friend, Vicky Jones.
Vicky was Fleabag ‘s original director when it was still a one-woman show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
It all comes back to Fleabag!
She is joining yet another series.
This one is upcoming, and for HBO. They commissioned Run in 2019, which was created by Vicky Jones!
The show will be a comedy-horror series, which I personally am already interested in. Merritt Wever, Domhnall Gleeson, and Phoebe are all attached to star.
A galaxy far, far away beckoned to her.
Phoebe joined Solo: A Star Wars Story as the voice of the droid L3-37.
L3-37 played a key role in helping Han Solo achieve his famed Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, which has had nerds everywhere in arms for decades.
She has no social media presence.
No, literally.
She doesn’t have a personal Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
However…she does use Twitter. She has an account that she shares with Vicky Jones, @drywrite, where she occasionally tweets and likes tweets about Fleabag .
Despite that, the account is primarily for their theatre company.
She just landed a major Amazon deal.
“I’m insanely excited to be continuing my relationship with Amazon,” she said. “It really feels like home. I can’t wait to get going!”
She’ll be developing content for Amazon Prime. Amazon is also the home of Fleabag .
She broke records with her Emmy win.
She joined Tina Fey to become one of the few women to ever win a writing and acting Emmy in the same year.
She beat out critic-favorite Julia Louis-Dreyfus (and my personal favorite, Catherine O’Hara) for the acting Emmy.
Tina won for 30 Rock in 2008.
Tina Fey interviewed her for British GQ.
The publication called Tina Fey Phoebe’s “spiritual American counterpart,”which feels so right.
Here’s an excerpt of that legendary interview:
“All right. These are questions, Phoebe, that will, when gathered together, be an interview. Were you once a child?” Tina asked.
Phoebe answered, “I’m still in that phase, I think.”
