Filthy but fun

PHOEBE Waller-Bridge's one-woman show may have scored five-star reviews on stage, but the actress and writer – dubbed the 'British Amy Schumer' – admits she'll be nervously checking social media when the BBC3 adaptation of Fleabag starts next week.

"I wish I could say that I could abstain, but I can't," she cries, breaking into laughter. "I'll probably just stay at home by myself with a bottle of wine. I'm really proud of this character," Waller-Bridge adds. "It feels really bold. I get her and I care about her, and that has given me armour. If people don't like it, don't get her, or find it astoundingly filthy, I can still stand by her and tell you what I think – I think she's cool."

Born from her award-winning Edinburgh play, the London-born talent, who turns 31 this month, takes the title role as Fleabag, a dry-witted, angry, cash-strapped, grief-riddled, porn-watching young woman, who's trying to come to terms with a recent tragedy. And while she may have trouble believing her luck that Fleabag's made it this far – "I can't believe they've let me do this" – we take a closer look at the script that keeps on giving...

Having won critical acclaim since its origins at Edinburgh in 2013, demand for a rework of Waller-Bridge's play was high. But the Broadchurch actress confesses the six-part series needed a few tweaks plot-wise, in preparation for the small screen.

"I had to crack open the story, and there was a lot more I had to write and come up with," she reveals, explaining that "certain elements landed better" on stage than they would have on screen.

"It was a one-woman show, so they [those elements] were constructed so that eventually, she would reveal something or she explains something. Some things land better when it's just verbal than they do visually. So I changed the ending, because I thought the impact of what was actually spoken about in the play might be quite gory."

Waller-Bridge may have taken on portraying all of the characters in the theatre, but acquiring a stellar cast – comprising Olivia Colman ("Honestly, no one in the world can be that sweet and that devilish at the exact same time"), Bill Paterson, Hugh Dennis and Hugh Skinner, among others – for the online broadcast version meant she had no qualms handing them over.

"We had so much luck with this cast," she says, grinning. "They brought so much heart to all the characters. "Amazingly, I think we got most of our dream list, A lot of them were actors that I knew and I was dreaming of when writing it, and it was an amazingly short auditioning process. With Jenny Rainsford [who plays Fleabag's best friend], the first day she auditioned it was like meeting the character that I'd been writing. That was amazing."

Thrown roughly up against the walls of contemporary London, Fleabag has earned herself somewhat of a smutty tag, sleeping with anyone who dares stand too close, squeezing money from wherever she can, rejecting anyone who tries to help her, and keeping up her bravado throughout. But the show's title isn't just in reference to the character's behaviour, as Waller-Bridge, who attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada), explains.

"Fleabag is my family nickname, which I've always been amused by," she says. "They call me Fleabag, which I know begs the question as to how close this is related to me. The play really was personal to me, not necessarily in a biographical way, but in so many different ways. I just thought Fleabag summed up something for me – I have so much affection for that word, but I also know that it means something flea-ridden."

Waller-Bridge was particularly surprised to hear the Edinburgh play was labelled "astoundingly filthy" by one reviewer, stating: "I suppose I'm not astounded by filth in the same way that other people are". "She's got a very naughty sense of humour; a taste for the ruder side. But she's also sexually veracious, and enjoys her sex life and talking about it," she reasons.

Does she think the same comment would be ascribed to a male character? "I think there's a nervousness that ripples through the audience when its a woman talking unapologetically about masturbation or porn, or about some guy she's had sex with and doesn't care about. With a guy, there might be a sense of, 'Whey, go on lad'."

But she believes it's a stigma that's rapidly changing.

"Particularly on TV – less so in film actually. In TV, there seems to be a race on as to who can write and create and perform the most complex female character at the moment, which is really exciting."

Waller-Bridge may be waiting with bated breath for the season one big reveal, but that's not to say she's averse to imagining what a second series might look like, should this one be well-received.

"It would definitely have to be another adventure. A whole other journey in her life," she enthuses. There's one arc that is quite contained, so there'd have to be another arc, which is exciting."

Before that though, viewers can look forward to sampling the first outing. And if you're still unsure about tuning in, here's how the writer and star of the show sums it up...

"The promise, first and foremost, is that it's a comedy, and we as a whole team laboured to make it funny. But I think what makes it exciting for me is that it goes into some really dark corners, but takes you down a comedy road to get to that dark corner," says Waller-Bridge.

"If you're looking for something weirder and darker in your comedy then fleabag might be able to hand it to you."

• Fleabag, BBC3, from 10am on Thursday, iPlayer