Backstage at the 71st Emmy Awards, the night’s big winner, Phoebe Waller-Bridge — who claimed awards for writing, lead actress and comedy series for her Amazon dark comedy “Fleabag” — bid adieu to “Fleabag,” which she has previously said she has no plans to bring back for a third season.
“This just feels like the most beautiful, beautiful way to say goodbye to it,” she said. “It does feel nice to go out on a high. You can’t get higher than this.”
The series, which stars Waller-Bridge as a grief-stricken, sexually impulsive woman in modern London known to viewers only as Fleabag, “is not autobiographical, but it’s really, really personal,” she said. “I feel this character did come out of me. In the very beginning of the writing, I was feeling quite cynical and quite bleak about the world and writing her was a really cathartic way of getting through that.”
She has not, however, slept with a hot priest — a character, in the form of actor Andrew Scott, who features in one of the most-talked storylines of Season 2, which also earned an Emmy for series director Harry Bradbeer.
“Usually I’m a big fan of ‘Write what you know,’ but in this case … it wasn’t so on the nose,” Waller-Bridge said, throwing back her head and laughing. The bright mind behind “Fleabag” and fellow Emmy winner “Killing Eve” knew she wanted to write about religion and faith all along, and that her character needed to change. “In the middle [of writing] somewhere, this incredible man appeared and then Andrew walked into that space and everything started making sense. As I was modeling the character, it was very inspired by Andrew and his own heart and hotness.” (Among those also taken with Scott? Lin-Manuel Miranda.)
Waller-Bridge said she was most floored by fans’ and critics’ response to the latest season — which may have spurred Emmy voters to reward “Fleabag” so richly on Sunday night.
“It’s the word-of-mouth stuff that just kills me,” she said. “Knowing people said, ‘I’ve told my friend and my friend told their friend and my whole family watches...’ That stuff is really special. The press has been so amazing and writing these incredible pieces on it. It did feel like a tidal wave, didn’t it, just suddenly hitting us all? And here, because it lands as one thing, one bingeable thing here — in the U.K., it’s spread out over six weeks — it landed and there was this explosion of response. There were kind of shockwaves to it.”
As for landing the night’s most shocking upset, besting two former winners — Emmy royalty Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) and defending champ Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)?
“Those actresses have been such a huge part of my viewing enjoyment and I’ve been so inspired by them,” Waller-Bridge said. “Julia Louis-Dreyfus, I’ve been watching for all of those wins. And ‘Veep,’ I’ve studied ‘Veep’ from a performance point of view as well, and also from a writing point of view. Just being around those women is extraordinary. I feel like I’ve come in the back door and just nicked something. It’s the honest truth. It was very, very special.”
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The cast of “Game of Thrones” comes onstage to accept the drama series award during the show at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge (speaking) and fellow cast and crew members of “Fleabag” accept the comedy series award during the 71st Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater. (Getty Images)
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Jodie Comer of “Killing Eve” reacts to winning the Emmy award for lead actress in a drama series during the show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Jodie Comer, left, and Sandra Oh from “Killing Eve” react to Comer winning the Emmy award for lead actress in a drama series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Lorne Michaels and the cast and crew of “Saturday Night Live” win the Emmy for variety sketch series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Adam DeVine performs onstage during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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People perform during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Peter Dinklage of “Game of Thrones” accepts the award for supporting actor in a drama series during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards show. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Jharrel Jerome of “When They See Us” wins for lead actor in a limited series or movie at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Peter Krause and Angela Bassett prepare to present the award for lead actor in a limited series or movie during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards at the Microsoft Theater. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Michelle Williams accepts her lead actress in a limited series or movie award for “Fosse/Verdon.” (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Bill Hader prepare to present the award for supporting actor in a limited series or movie. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Phoebe Waller-Bridge accepts the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series for “Fleabag.” (Chris Pizzello / Invision/Associated Press)
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Don Cheadle from “Black Monday” and Kristen Bell from “The Good Place” present the supporting actress in a drama series award during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Cherry Jones presents the award for writing for a drama series during the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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The cast of “Chernobyl” accepts the Emmy for limited series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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During the opening, Homer Simpson takes a brief stab at hosting. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bryan Cranston, another of the momentary “hosts” early in the ceremony. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Tony Shalhoub accepts a statuette for supporting actor in a comedy series while presenters Bob Newhart, center, and Ben Stiller watch. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bryan Cranston. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Patricia Arquette, from “Escape at Dannemora,” wins for supporting actress in a limited series or movie. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Ben Stiller stands between figures of George Burns and Lucille Ball; Bob Newhart waits in the shadows. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Thingamajig from “The Masked Singer” accompanies accountants from Emmy tabulators Ernst & Young. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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“Game of Thrones” actors, from left, Alfie Allen, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Gwendoline Christie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Carice van Houten. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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RuPaul Charles accepts the statuette for competition program: “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Presenters Maya Rudolph and Ike Barinholtz enter, blindfolded, to present the award for lead actor in a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bill Hader from “Barry” accepts the award for lead actor in a comedy series. Presenters Maya Rudolph and Ike Barinholtz watch. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Nick Cannon and Ken Jeong present the award for writing for a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Amy Poehler, left, and Catherine O’Hara present the award for supporting actress in a comedy series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Alex Borstein from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” wins the Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy series (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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John Oliver, from “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” accepts the award for variety talk series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Lorne Michaels and the cast and crew of “Saturday Night Live” win for variety sketch series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Adam DeVine performs at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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“Ozark’s” Julia Garner accepts her award for supporting actress in a drama series. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
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Billy Porter, on stage as a presenter, would later win for lead actor in a drama series for “Pose.” (AFP/Getty Images)
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Bill Hader accepts the award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series for “Barry” at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
