Congratulations to Phoebe Waller-Bridge, known to Star Wars fans as L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story, who was among the big winners at last night’s 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the prizes for best leading comedy actress, best comedy series and best comedy writing all for Fleabag.
Originally made for BBC Three, it is the first British-made show to be named best comedy series. “It’s so wonderful and reassuring to know that a dirty, pervy, angry and messed-up woman can make it to the Emmys,” Waller-Bridge laughed, referring to the show’s lead character.
Waller-Bridge also joked that the possibility of winning awards was the reason she wrote the series in the first place.
“I find writing really hard and really painful, but I’d like to say from the bottom of my heart that the reason that I do it is this,” she said, holding up the Emmy statuette. “So it’s made it all really worth it guys, thank you so much.”
As Waller-Bridge took to the stage near the end of the ceremony to accept Fleabag’s fourth award of the night, for best comedy series, she commented: “This is getting ridiculous!
“Fleabag started as a one-woman show at the Edinburgh festival in 2014, and the journey has been absolutely mental to get here.”
Paying tribute to Fleabag’s “hot priest”, she added: “Season two would not have exploded in the way that it did if it wasn’t for Andrew Scott, who came into our Fleabag world like a whirlwind and gave a performance of such depth and complexity it elevated the whole thing.”
The show’s director, Harry Bradbeer, won best director for a comedy series. “For a director, something like Fleabag only comes along once in your life,” he said.
“Thank you Phoebe for coming into my life like some kind of glorious grenade. Scientists are still trying to work out how someone so incredibly talented can be so utterly lovely.”
The second series of Fleabag aired on the BBC earlier this year and has been released by Amazon in the US.
View all the winners here, and congratulations to all those that won!
