Phoebe Waller-Bridge won’t be breaking the fourth wall on her next project — she’ll be stepping behind it. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the “Fleabag” star, writer, and creator revealed she’s writing a feature with plans to direct. This would mark Waller-Bridge’s screen directorial debut.
No details in the way of plot yet, but Waller-Bridge wants the film to have a theatrical release and won’t sell it until it is finished.
“The day I wrapped ‘Fleabag,’ I went to bed thinking, ‘I’m never going to have another idea again. Oh shit,'” the 2019 Emmy nominee recalled. “I woke up with the vision of this film.”
It’s unclear whether Waller-Bridge will act in the project. She says she doesn’t want to appear on-screen, yet she joked, “I blatantly will end up in it.”
“Fleabag,” the critically beloved adaptation of Waller-Bridge’s one woman show, ended this spring after two seasons. The series follows the adventures of a caustic, self-destructive woman in London — who has a penchant for speaking directly to the camera. While Waller-Bridge is adamant that Fleabag’s story is done for now, she’s not ruling out the possibility of returning to the character after a couple decades or so, “when I’m 50, maybe, when you know there’s been a life lived and it’s a different face looking down the barrel.”
In 2019 Waller-Bridge returned to “Fleabag” the play. She appeared in a sold-out Off Broadway revival earlier this year and a West End run, also sold-out, kicks off August 20. The production will also be filmed and shown in movie theaters as part of the “National Theatre Live” series.
Waller-Bridge is up for four Emmys this year: best comedy actress, best comedy writing, and best comedy series for “Fleabag,” and best drama series for “Killing Eve.” Waller-Bridge created and exec produces the latter show, which traces the obsessive relationship between an assassin and the agent trying to bring her down. “Fleabag” is nominated for 11 Emmys overall, and “Killing Eve” nine.
Earlier this month Waller-Bridge took home the Individual Achievement in Comedy prize at the TCA Awards for her work in “Fleabag.” The series also snagged Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, making it the most-awarded show at the ceremony.
Next, Waller-Bridge is exec producing and recurring on “Run,” Vicky Jones’ HBO comedy about a wife and mother who abandons her life after a mysterious text from an ex. She polished the script for “Bond 25,” per Daniel Craig’s request, making her the second woman to receive writing credit in the 007 franchise’s nearly-60-year history.
Waller-Bridge previously wrote, created, and starred in comedy series “Crashing.” Her other screen credits include “Broadchurch,” “The Iron Lady,” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
