How Phoebe built her new power set
THE STORY OF a grieving sex addict with a gerbil café was never a dead cert for international success. But somehow Fleabag,
and its creator and star, Phoebe Wallerbridge, have become an international sensation. And last week she received the ultimate honour: a cover of US Vogue.
Alongside a glossy cover shoot of Phoebe clad in embellished Saint Laurent, she talks openly about being ‘proudly not a Tory’, how she learnt to ‘be more fearless’, and debates whether she would like to have children with boyfriend Martin Mcdonagh: ‘I think I would like to. I love hanging out with kids – you know, good ones.’ She also reveals that she wants to get more political in her writing, and lets slip that her next project will be a close collaboration with her composer sister Isobel.
The Vogue cover is the cherry on the cake of winning three Emmys in September, but Grazia understands that it has been years in the making. Dame Anna Wintour, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, has long been a fan. As co-host of the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Anna has twice chosen Phoebe to present the ceremony – in 2017 and 2018. She made an impression the first time round. ‘Anna thought she was hilarious – which is no mean feat,’ a source tells Grazia. ‘But she also found her to be charming and very, very clever. When the time came to choose the next host, there was no question that Dame Anna would be keen to enlist Phoebe yet again.’
The friendship continued. When Phoebe took Fleabag to Broadway in March, Anna attended the opening night. She then hosted an intimate dinner in Phoebe’s honour, at her own home in Manhattan, inviting the likes of Sienna Miller and Anne Hathaway. ‘Anna has been one of Phoebe’s biggest cheerleaders in the US,’ a source says. ‘She was keen to introduce her to her important circles, and it was inevitable that she would go one step further and put her on the cover.’
And Phoebe is not the only Waller-bridge making waves in Hollywood. Last week, it emerged that Phoebe’s brother, Jasper, is dating Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery. They met in LA where Jasper, who works for talent agency James Grant, visited over the summer.
At this point, Phoebe and her family may just take over the world.