“The dream had always been to straddle film and theater and TV,” Phoebe Waller-Bridge reveals in her interview with Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video above). Waller-Bridge is in between seasons of “Fleabag,” a British comedy produced by Amazon that originated as a one-woman play that she wrote and performed.
She is using the break to act in the Han Solo spin-off film of the “Star Wars” franchise, as well as write the miniseries “Killing Eve” for BBC America. “There was a real opportunity to break out of comedy,” she explains with regard to the latter. “The idea of doing an eight-hour thriller just felt like a surprising right-hand turn.” There are also rumors that Waller-Bridge is in contention to succeed Peter Capaldi in the iconic role of Doctor Who; she would be the 13th to play the part and the first woman. “I am not allowed to say anything about that, one way or the other,” Waller-Bridges teases.
Having recently scored six BAFTA nominations for its six-episode debut season, “Fleabag” has been moving up in Gold Derby’s odds as an Emmy contender, with Waller-Bridge’s lead performance notably ranking among the top 10 most likely for a Best Comedy Actress nomination.
The Critics’ Choice Awards introduced “Fleabag” to the awards conversation back in November when they nominated it for Best Comedy Series and Actress. Waller-Bridge muses, “I first performed it in this dripping, stinking cave at the Edinburgh Festival with like 60 people [in attendance]. To have gone all the way to the Critics’ Choice, it was a real sort of emotional moment that the Americans and that the awards circuit had embraced the show and that all the risks that we’d taken [had resulted in a show that] had really not only been watched, but appreciated by people over here.” She adds, “I’ve been watching American TV since as long as I can remember, so it was a huge thing.”
Waller-Bridge has submitted the series premiere of “Fleabag” for Emmy consideration in the Best Comedy Writing race. She explains, “It’s the episode that kicks everything off and I find episode-ones the hardest to write, so I’m hoping that they take that into consideration.” If nominated for Best Comedy Actress, Waller-Bridge is likely to submit the same episode as her acting showcase because of the “rainbow of emotions.”
Will “Fleabag” be nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmys? Use the Gold Derby predictions center to log your predictions now before the nominations announcement on July 13 and also predict other awards, like the Tonys. You can also predict reality shows and compare your picks and results with experts and other users from across the world, so get started!
‘Fleabag’ could follow ‘Catastrophe’ from BAFTA to Emmy Awards
Related: ‘Fleabag’ wins at Royal Television Society Awards
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