Who exactly is Phoebe Waller-Bridge? Everything you need to know about the Fleabag star

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is most definitely a person who should be On Your Radar. The actress/writer/comedian/hero is becoming more and more well-known, largely thanks to her starring role in Fleabag - a TV series she wrote and created herself. WHAT a woman.

But there's so much more to know about Phoebs than the incredible success of the show - although that is a pretty impressive factor, of course. So, here’s everything you need to know about the actress of the moment

Who is Phoebe Waller-Bridge?

Phoebe is a 34-year-old actress, playwright and director best known for her role in TV shows Broadchurch and Fleabag. She made her acting debut in 2009 on the stage production of Roaring Trade in Soho Theatre, but since then she’s focused mainly on telly work - which also includes writing and producing the phenomenon that is 2018 series Killing Eve, as well as it's 2019 sequel.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge: Fleabag

Phoebe not only wrote Fleabag, but she also starred in it as the main character. The show was developed from a one-woman play that Phoebe had written and starred in at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where she also won an award for the piece.

Due to the success of the series it was moved from BBC Three to BBC Two. By 2016 it was so popular that on-demand Amazon Video service picked it up and streamed it in the US, where it's also become hugely popular.

Of the series, Phoebe told The Guardian in 2017, "Being proper and sweet and nice and pleasing is a nightmare. It’s exhausting. As women, we get the message about how to be a good girl – how to be a good, pretty girl – from such an early age. Then, at the same time, we’re told that well-behaved girls won’t change the world or ever make a splash.

"So it’s sort of like, well, what the f--- am I supposed to be? I’m supposed to be a really polite revolutionary? It’s impossible."

The show has won Phoebe a TV BAFTA for Best Female Comedy Performance as well as two Royal Television Society Awards - one for Breakthrough and one for Best Writing – Comedy.

Will there be a Fleabag series three?

It's looking unlikely (sob). Sian Clifford, who plays Fleabag's sister Claire in the show, said in March 2019, "There will not be a third series. This is it. I think people will accept that this is the end when they see it because I think it is complete. I think the story is complete."

Phoebe also said earlier in 2019 that the series two finale would be "the final curtain", saying, "I have thought about it and there isn't going to be one."

Phoebe told the crowd at an Amazon event that she has a "fantasy of bringing Fleabag back when I’m 50," with Amazon boss Jennifer Salke saying she was desperate for Phoebe to make another series.

She said, "Anything Phoebe wants to do, nothing would make us happier to bring another season of her show. Anything she wants to do. I’m forever the optimist."

Speaking on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Phoebe revealed that there was actually never even supposed to be a second series of the show, telling the audience, "I was very smug about not coming back because I thought I had a lot of artistic integrity. The first season had a proper ending in my mind and it was based on a play and it was adapted to the same ending.

"Fleabag talks to the camera a lot in the first season and by the end she stops talking to the camera. I thought, 'Unless I can re-invent a reason for why she talks to the camera again, I can’t see how I can justify coming back'. Going back to the second season with the same persona even though [her family] know her dark secret seemed dishonest to the camera."

She then explained that she was happy to do a second season after thinking up the clever moments where The Priest is able to work out what she's doing, "When I came up with the trick of another character seeing that she looks to the camera, that’s when the whole thing cracked open again."

So there's hope after all!

Is Fleabag on Netflix?

Unfortunately not, but you can watch it all on BBC iPlayer.

What else has Phoebe Waller-Bridge been in?

You will probs recognise her from the second series of ITV’s whodunnit drama Broadchurch, where she played junior barrister Abby Thompson.

However, before Broadchurch and Fleabag, Phoebe also wrote and starred in Crashing, a series about a group of six people who live in a disused hospital as property guardians. She also had a role in Bad Education as India.

Has Phoebe Waller-Bridge been in any films?

She has! Phoebe had a small role in 2011 film The Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher as Susie, as well as Simon Pegg's 2015 film Man Up as Katie and Goodbye Christopher Robin in 2017 as Mary Brown.

But her starring film role has to be her first Hollywood role in Solo: A Star Wars Story as droid L3-37. Not only did she provide the voice for the character, but Phoebe also acted out the robot's movements using motion capture.

Where is Phoebe Waller-Bridge from?

Phoebe is born and bred Laandan. The actress grew up in Ealing, West London and now lives in Kensal Rise.

How tall is Phoebe Waller-Bridge?

According to IMDb, Phoebe is 5ft 9 ¾in, or 177cm.

Is Phoebe Waller-Bridge married?

Phoebe was married to TV presenter and documentary filmmaker Conor Woodman. They announced they were divorcing in 2017.

Was Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the running for Doctor Who?

She certainly was! After Peter Capaldi announced his departure from Doctor Who after four years in the role, fans of the show were convinced that the next face of the Doctor was sure to be a woman, thanks to the show's obvious lead-up to it.

Before Phoebe's fellow Broadchurch alumnus Jodie Whittaker was announced as the first ever female Doctor, the odds were at 2/1 for Phoebe to take on the role and there was a lot of speculation over whether she would be starring in the sci-fi show.

But just a few months before the role was due to be announced, Phoebe took herself out of the running, telling Express.co.uk, "I am not going to be the first female Doctor. It’s the end of the rumours. Not that I know of!"

Where did Phoebe Waller-Bridge go to university?

Phoebe attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, after originall planning to go to Trinity College in Dublin to study English. Before going to uni, Phoebe attended £22,000-a-year private sixth form Abbey DLD College in Marylebone, London.

Who is Phoebe Waller-Bridge related to?

Phoebe has two siblings - little bro Jasper Waller-Bridge and older sister Isobel Waller-Bridge. Music’s a big deal in the family with Jasper working as a music manager and Isobel a composer - she wrote the music for Fleabag and BBC’s adaptation of War & Peace.

Phoebe's parents are Michael Cyprian Waller-Bridge and Teresa Mary (née Clerke). She is related to Sir John Edward Longueville Clerke on her mother's side, and The Rev. Sir Egerton Leigh on her father's side.

Is Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Twitter?

Sadly not, Phoebe isn't on any public Twitter or Instagram that we could find.

NOW WATCH: How well does Phoebe Waller-Bridge know her Solo co-stars?

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