Fleabag, this is a woman without a name in her thirties, who is good at drinking alcohol, provoking her fellow human beings and destroying relationships. This angry, complicated and lovable female figure is the title heroine of the celebrated British series “Fleabag” (BBC, Amazon Prime), written and played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
While Fleabag stumbles to one-night stand from one-night stand, the protagonist repeatedly turns directly to the camera and comments on the action around her with wit and quick wit. After all, FlaBag’s chaotic life with her neurotic sister, her greasy brother -in -law and the bitterly -evil stepmother never becomes boring.
At the height of her success, after only two seasons, the 40-year-old ended the project-in front of Hollywood in front of and behind the camera. Before her last guest performance in London in late summer, Waller-Bridge spoke exclusively with Rolling Stone about “Fleabag”, feminism and her future.
Ms. Waller-Bridge, if you took Fleabag with you to a party, how would you introduce this woman?
I think I would say that she is guaranteed to take a good time – but she has a lot of bite, so everyone should be careful.
And their absurd family?
Phew, I don’t know. I can’t say much about it because I love them all so much. I know they appear to be insane, but deep inside they are all very lovable. Maybe I would just say: take care! They are all very entertaining, but you need a while to really get to know them.
If I explained the show to someone, I would talk to the camera directly about Fleabag’s interaction. Are the spectators or the camera for you in the writing process?
No, I haven’t seen it that way yet, but there is a lot of room for interpretation. When I wrote the script, I did not link the camera work to a certain character. I see her as a pressure on Fleabag: The camera is a witness of Flehabag’s life and secrets – from which she either has to run away or that she wants to entertain. Or she has to work constantly to hide what is going on in it.
How does this pressure change from the first season to the second? The secret that Fleabag desperately tries to hide in the first season is opened in the end.
In the first season, she keeps her complete facade upright to maintain her secret. At the beginning of season second, she knows that we know that she knows that we know her secret. So the dynamic changes. She is not really sure why the camera is still there. There are still things that she has to learn that she has to confront. The relationship with the camera is much more vulnerable because it is more exhibited. The situation is less urgent, and at the same time more suspicious.
One of the outstanding features of the series is that the characters are all so subtle. How is your approach to the development of such extreme roles, extreme situations and extreme emotions?
I use a phrase when I write: Go Greek or Go Home. I would like to bring the characters to absolute despair, similar to a Greek drama. Because it is strangely the most redeeming moment for us spectators. The genre drama requires that you push the situation there, but it is also important to remain realistic. I think we all arrive in our lives with this Katharsis, so it is nice to watch how someone else goes through there.
Is this understandability of the key to good drama?
I think it’s empathy. If you feel connected to a figure on an emotional level – not necessarily with the specific life situation. That only makes sense when you take care of a figure. I see this as the goal of my job to get spectators to feel empathy for someone; Even if they originally assumed that they wouldn’t do it.
One aspect of the series, which personally impressed me very much, is FlaBag’s struggle to be a feminist in real life. Did you personally deal with this topic when you wrote the script?
Definitely when I wrote the play. I felt that I didn’t know what the rules of feminism were. Even then – and still doing it – I identified as a passionate feminist. But I was afraid that there were secret rules that you could break without realizing it – some of them simply thinking something wrong. Especially in the first season – there is a scene where Fleabag raises the hand when she is asked whether she would exchange five years of life for the so -called perfect body – I examine these opposites, what it means to be a “good” feminist and a “bad”.
Fleabag occupies a gray area by honestly talking about the camera. She tells us what her fears are, that is, that she is afraid of being a bad feminist. At the same time, it should go hand in hand to be a feminist and a complex woman. We shouldn’t be afraid to be complicated or ask questions and remember what the basic goal of movement is: equality. It’s not about how much you want to have a perfect body. This is all intertwined, but we should all have freedom to express our opinion.
Do you believe in Happy Ends?
Total. I just don’t think that you always have to be sweet. A happy ending is for me if something has changed in someone for the better. Of course there is always temptation to write a happy conclusion because then we can all relax and go to bed. But I think the reality of life in me predominates – it is never pink, but it is always positive when someone has developed into better, more profound people. I am a massive romantic. But I think a real, realistic end is a good end.
Are there future plans for Fleabag and what are yours?
I just don’t have a future plan for you. I really wanted to let her go when I wrote the second season. But she also let go of me. I just wish her the best of luck, I hope she has a great life. Maybe I’ll come back to you again when I am 50 to look at what she experienced. I think that’s fun.
I am currently writing to the new Bond film. Then I will finish another play. Then I work on a new HBO series called “Run”, where I will co-produce and play in three episodes. And after that I will write a film script and also direct what has been my dream for a very long time!
The portrait via Phoebe Waller-Bridge appeared in the July edition of the Rolling Stone in 2019.