Daniel Craig Targeted ‘Fleabag’ Star Phoebe Waller-Bridge For Bond

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the 34-year-old English actress/writer/producer behind the popular comedy dramas Fleabag, Crashing, and Killing Eve, is nominated for a Golden Globe Award (“Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy”) for her role as Fleabag on Fleabag.

While Waller-Bridge has had her fair share of film roles too — The Iron Lady (Susie), Goodbye Christopher Robin (Mary Brown), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (droid L3-37), her next big Hollywood project is as a writer. She is one of the four writers behind the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die, starring Daniel Craig, who is also nominated for a Golden Globe but for his role in the film Knives Out.

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When a reporter asked Craig about Waller-Bridge — and if she was a diversity hire for the Bond set — Craig pushed back and said: “Look, we’re having a conversation about Phoebe’s gender here, which is fucking ridiculous.” He added. “She’s a great writer. Why shouldn’t we get Phoebe onto Bond?” In fact, Craig pursued her.

Craig added: “I had my eye on her ever since the first ‘Fleabag,’ and then I saw ‘Killing Eve’ and what she did with that and just wanted her voice. It is so unique — we are very privileged to have her on board.”

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Waller-Bridge responded to questions about if Bond would suddenly show signs of becoming a feminist, and said: “…the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”

The $250 million No Time to Die (Craig’s fifth Bond film! — see official trailer below) is expected to open in theaters in North American on April 8.

P.S. The other four women nominated for the Golden Globe’s Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy award are: Christina Applegate (Dead to Me), Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Kirsten Dunst (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), and Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll).

The 77th Golden Globe Awards will broadcast live on Sunday, January 5 at 8 pm on NBC.