- [Interviewer] Hi Phoebe, in the kind of center here.
- Hi.
- Congratulations
on all the wins. - Thank you.
- [Interviewer] Does this inspire you?
You had said this was the end of "Fleabag,"
there would be no more "Fleabag."
Given all the reaction and all the love for it,
is it possible we might see more?
- (laughs) To be honest, this just feels
like the most beautiful, beautiful way
to say goodbye to it, actually.
And it feels like, as Shawn always puts it so beautifully,
it does feel like the story is complete.
And even though it is, you know,
it's so nice to hear that so many people loved it.
It feels like oh dammit,
maybe she shouldn't have waved goodbye at the end.
But it does feel right, it does feel right.
And go out on a high, you can't get higher than this.
- [Interviewer] Thank you.
- [Interviewer] Congratulations on all your Emmys.
- Where are you? - Over here.
- Oh hi, thanks.
- [Interviewer] Audiences have really loved you
in this character.
How much of this character is really you,
and also how does it feel to be considered
the voice of the modern-day woman?
(Phoebe laughs)
- Wow, that sounds great, thanks.
How much of it is me?
It's not autobiographical but it's really, really personal.
I feel this character did come out of me,
and at the very beginning, when I first started writing,
I was feeling quite cynical and quite bleak about the world,
and writing her was a really cathartic way
of getting through that.
But she's absolutely a part of me
but she's every single person here,
she's a part of everyone here
and everyone here put a part of themselves into her.
So it feels like it's all of us now.
- [Michelle] Hi, Michelle from Fox.
- Hi.
- [Michelle] The priest storyline,
where did that come from?
Did you actually sleep with a priest?
Did you have a crush on a priest?
I mean, it was so fantastic.
- Thanks, usually I'm a big fan of write what you know,
but in this case (Michelle laughs)
it wasn't so on the nose.
No, I'd known that I wanted to write
about religion and faith,
and then Jenny, my story producer,
her and I were kicking things around for ages
and really the more that faith came into the equation
and the more we felt like she needed to have
something change in her,
the idea that Fleabag falling in love
and then this idea of faith
and then in the middle somewhere this incredible man appears
and then Andrew walked into that space
and everything started making sense.
And the character, as I was molding the character,
I was very, very inspired by Andrew
and his own heart and hotness, to be fair.
(cast laugh)
- [Interviewer] Phoebe, congratulations
on all your wins. - Thank you.
- [Interviewer] Can you talk about the win
for Lead Actress in a Comedy
against Rachel Brosnahan who won last year
and then Julia Louis-Dreyfus who won
20 years before that every year for "Veep,"
or at least five. (Phoebe laughs)
- Yeah, I mean, those actresses
have been such a huge part of my viewing enjoyment
and I've been so inspired by them.
And Julia Louis-Dreyfus,
I've been watching for all of those wins.
And "Veep," I studied "Veep,"
from a performance point of view as well
but also from a writing point of view.
And just being amongst those women is extraordinary,
and to be even part, I feel like I've come in the back door
and I've nicked something. (laughs)
It's the honest trust.
But yeah, it feels very, very special.
(Phoebe laughs)
- [Charlie] Hi, I'm Charlie from Showbiz Express,
right down here in front.
- Hi. - Congratulations everybody.
It seems like there could be a lot of ad-libbing going on
and a lot of retakes.
Can you just take us into the world
when the cameras start filming?
How scripted is it, how serious is it?
With the playing with the fourth wall
it just looks like you're all having a ball
and I just wanted to step into that world.
- Do you guys wanna?
- It's a real good fest.
I mean, it'd be really like.
- Come, you can, it is, it is, come and talk.
- Yeah, no, it's totally scripted
and it's very tightly shot and we do it very fast, yeah.
I mean, you want to get her words perfectly.
- There is quite a lot of last-minute changes.
And as all of these guys know,
once we're on set there's always a moment which is
it might change this last minute,
and the energy and the commitment to this whole cast
is to jump in and do it.
So it's every, yeah, it's a kind of.
Yeah, I don't know. (mumbles)
- [Steve] Phoebe, if I could ask you,
right here just to your left, right here.
- Hi. - Congratulations.
Steve Futterman from CBS News.
I wanted to ask you the acceptance of the program,
that's always, will it work across the pond?
Many have, many have not,
some great British shows, performers,
have just not made it here.
Was there concern, and when did you realize
it was going to work in the US?
- I felt, I mean, I didn't realize it before at all.
It was always a surprise.
I mean, when Amazon picked us up, that was huge.
And it was Joe, Joe Lewis here,
who found us and picked us up and brought us over.
And Amazon's enthusiasm gave us a lot of faith.
But then this feeling,
the rolling feedback from it as it was coming out,
and just the relief knowing that this is a universal thing.
'Cause I strongly believe that if things are truly funny,
they should be funny for everyone everywhere,
and truly moving,
they should be moving for everyone everywhere.
So it was a great relief that we actually landed
in a way that felt more universal.
- [Steve] And when you look at
some of the great American comedies
that have just won this award all throughout the years,
the "Seinfeld," I don't know if you ever heard
of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
- Yeah, of course.
- [Steve] Those shows have won over the years,
and to be in that group right now.
- Yeah, I mean, it's the thing that dreams are made of
and it's the thing that you secretly,
at the back of your head,
I was watching those shows
and growing up with those shows just thinking
how much you're absorbing and learning from them all.
And then to share a stage with them,
it's a huge moment for me in my life,
and to be doing it with such great friends and collaborators
is just wonderful.
- [Woman] We have time for two more questions.
- [Interviewer] Phoebe, one of the things
that made "Fleabag" stand out, right over here.
Right here. - Oh okay thanks.
- [Interviewer] One of the things
that made "Fleabag" stand out
is just how expertly you channeled
a level of frustration for women in the world right now,
a level of professional and educated women
that are just not finding the perfect happiness
that maybe they grew up thinking that they were gonna find
if they could have a career and family.
How did the circumstances of the world,
the craziness in the US, Brexit in the UK,
did any of that influence the worldview
that "Fleabag" came to season two with?
- Strangely, no. (laughs)
I mean, yes, of course, 'cause I was absorbing everything.
But really it was we were trying to build
from the inside out with this series,
and it was very much about a character piece.
And even though there's so much that is political about it,
it was really about one person's journey,
and always has to be.
And even though she's occupying the modern world
as it is now, it's really about how hard it is
for somebody who hates themselves to fall in love.
And hopefully that is relevant across all times.
Yeah, I think that's.
- [Interviewer] Phoebe.
Hi, to you all, congratulations.
- Thank you.
- [Interviewer] Do you feel like
this year you got discovered,
or this season you got discovered?
The first season, you had devoted fans.
But then all of a sudden,
you could feel the country or the viewers
getting a crush on this show.
That's a funny way to put it,
but they were all telling each other.
What was it, something that filled up,
was it the second season, was it a surprise to you?
- I don't know.
I mean, yeah, it was a huge, huge surprise.
We'd all hit the ground running with the second season
'cause we knew where we'd come from before,
and so there was this energy on set immediately.
And bringing Andrew in
who was this new, fresh character in it.
And there was this momentum for all of us
so we really, really believed in it.
But then hearing, it was the word-of-mouth stuff
that just kills me.
Knowing that people have said,
"I've told my friend and my friend told their friend
"and my whole family's watching,"
'cause that's stuff that's really special
because it moves people to tell them.
And the press have been so amazing
and writing all these incredible pieces on it.
It did feel like a tidal wave, didn't it?
Just hitting us all.
And actually here, 'cause it lands as one thing,
one bingeable thing here,
whereas in the UK it was spread out over six weeks.
So it sort of landed
and there was this explosion of response
and there was kind of shock waves to it. (chuckles)