Fleabag and Killing Eve creator says she ‘blatantly will end up’ acting in her film

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is working on a new feature film that she intends to direct and will likely end up acting in.

The writer-actor-director has spoken about the new project, which she began after her acclaimed television show Fleabag was put to bed. “I went to bed thinking, ‘I’m never going to have another idea again. Oh shit.’ I woke up with the vision of this film,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.

“I blatantly will end up in it,” she said, despite also saying she doesn’t want to be convinced into appearing on screen.

While she remained tight-lipped about the details, she said she wouldn’t sell the project until it was finished and that she was seeking theatrical release for it rather than a streaming service.

Waller-Bridge is in high demand, epitomised by her recent engagement livening up the script for the forthcoming as-yet-untitled 25th James Bond film at the request of its star, Daniel Craig.

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She said James Bond had always intrigued her, similar to the way the villain in her acclaimed spy drama Killing Eve, Villanelle, did. “They live a fantasy! But it’s a life none of us would ever want, if we’re honest. We don’t want to go put a bullet in someone’s head to sleep with people and have martinis. It’s a kind of fantasy nightmare,” she said.

Waller-Bridge said she was wary of people who just wanted to attach her highly bankable name to their project. “You can smell it a mile off when people are just saying, we want to pay for your name to be associated with their company and then have their own agenda,” she said. “I wouldn’t trust that for a second.”

Fleabag has been nominated for 11 Emmy awards for its second season, despite the first being overlooked last year, with Waller-Bridge personally being nominated for outstanding lead actress in a comedy.

Last year, she received an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing in a drama series for her work on the first season of Killing Eve. That show has also received a swag of Emmy nominations this year, including outstanding drama series.

Despite its ongoing popularity, Waller-Bridge said she has been trying to put Fleabag to rest since it began. “I’m just trying to sniff out where the freedom is … freedom and that feeling of not having any grown-ups to answer to.”