Her face is not well known to the general public, yet she is everywhere. After his appearance in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (in theaters June 28), it is likely that the relative anonymity of English Phoebe Waller-Bridge, 37, will come to an end. Actress for about ten years, she is also, above all, a screenwriter.
She wrote one of the most influential series of the 2010s, flea bag (Amazon Prime), on the itinerary of a young Londoner lost for whom she received two Golden Globes in 2020. She also created the formidable character of a serial killer for another series, Killing Eve, in 2018 (available on Netflix). She transformed James Bond into a family man, chastened lover and resigned spy, even scripting his death in Dying can wait (2021), the last installment played by Daniel Craig in the series.
In 2019, she recalled that she also mastered the art of stand-up – the character of Fleabag was born on stage – in participating in Saturday Night Live, the American entertainment show that has, since the 1970s, revealed almost all the great Anglo-Saxon comic talents. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is also sought after for her ability to write non-standard, embodied, politically incorrect, deeply contemporary and sexually assumed female roles. A freedom that detonates. Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s feminism tells our time.
Sex and real sadness
In the new Indiana Jones, the actress is the alter ego of the adventurous archeology professor. The opus directed by James Mangold (the first four are by Steven Spielberg) is set at the end of the 1960s. The character played by Harrison Ford appears to be aging, out of step with changes in society and the relationship between men and women.
“I grew up with Raiders of the Lost Ark, explains the actress. For me, Indiana Jones is a character with a strong comic potential, he constantly gives the impression of not wanting to be there. There’s his fear of snakes… And that scene where Jones’ mentor’s daughter, played by Karen Allen, punches him. A moment of intense happiness for the spectator that I was: a woman who puts her hand in the face of a man…”
If Phoebe Waller-Bridge hits the nail on the head, it’s because of her ability to create complex characters in step with the times. When, in the 1990s and 2000s, Sex & The City, by Darren Star, depicted a conquering femininity in a privileged New York society, flea bag (launched in 2016) explores another register. As Girls, by Lena Dunham, in the mid-2010s, the comedy series is clearly about sex while revealing real sadness.
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