Phoebe Waller-Bridge has admitted she “wasn’t entirely sure what a droid was” before auditioning to play one in the new Star Wars spin-off movie.
The Fleabag actress and writer is set to appear via motion capture as droid sidekick L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
She previously confessed to the Evening Standard that she had never seen an instalment of the franchise before getting the role. Now she has revealed how she inadvertently impressed producers at her audition.
She told Vogue: “I wasn’t entirely sure what a droid was, and I was just performing it like a human. And they were like, ‘Wow, you’re really loose with the whole droid idea. Maybe you could just try it again a bit more... like a droid?’
Sidekick: Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story“Luckily, one of them did a tiny robot thing with his arms when he said ‘droid’, and I was like, ‘It’s a f****** robot. It’s a robot. Thank you’. Strangely, I think it worked in my favour, because they thought my humanness was a choice.”
The film, scheduled for release on May 25, tells the original story of intergalactic smuggler Han Solo.
Speaking to Vogue, Waller-Bridge described the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements as “roar on behalf of women”, after previously delivering a powerful speech on the subject at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
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She said: “I really feel that… I really hope [we see change]. There’s a risk that it’s all just so much talking when we need to see the actual fundamental system change. I know the more work I make and the more powerful I get, the more outspoken and controlling I’m going to be about that sort of stuff.”
She added: “It feels like, recently, a lot of female anger has been unleashed. I think rage can be something that motivates and galvanises and changes things, and that’s what’s happening now. It has a forward motion to it.”
Cover stars: The May issue of Vogue
Vogue MagazineSee the full shoot in the May issue of Vogue, on sale Friday.