PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE:A few years ago I got the call [to first meet Sharon].
She asked me to come in for a general meeting.
Id always wanted to meet her.
Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; John Phillips/Getty Images
We were really hoping to work together, and you were about to startFleabag.
Wed read the play and knew you were the one to meet.
But we didnt get in there!
But then we were together at that Emmys party [in 2016].
WALLER-BRIDGE:That was a very surreal event.
Everything was white and linen.
Everyone was famous, pleasant, and walking very slowly.
HORGAN:It was the kind of venue where you wafted.Fleabaghad just launched, right?
Everyone is nuts about it.
As much in the U.S. as they are in the U.K.
WALLER-BRIDGE:Well, right back at you.
I cant have a conversation with anyone about work without mentioning Sharon.
I am fing lovingCatastrophes third season.
We have a watching group, me and my friends and in-laws.
[The U.K. premiere was in late February.]
One of my questions for you is: How do you start?
The thought of the big idea really scares me.
Our big feeling with season 3 was: What is it about?
We know the characters now.
In some ways, its easier to write for them now.
WALLER-BRIDGE:Do you and Rob designate scripts to one another?
HORGAN:No, we sit side by side like a pair of weirdos.
Youve got a writers room at the moment forKilling Eve, dont you?
Are you enjoying writing with other people?
Do you get lonely when you write on your own?
WALLER-BRIDGE:I think its less fun.
It takes years and years to get a shorthand with other people.
Id always worked closely with Vicky Jones [who directedFleabagthe play].
I dont think Ive written anything ever if it wasnt for her and that collaboration in the first place.
But thats taken years of friendship and getting drunk with each other.
Its quite intimidating to go in a room with other people.
There are so many terrible drafts and ideas along the way.
Trusting people not to jump off the ship is big.
And then to encourage people to get on your ship as well I could metaphor about this for ages.
HORGAN:I usually use food ones.
WALLER-BRIDGE:Ive gone nautical!
HORGAN:When you wroteFleabag, did you have half a mind it would become a series?
WALLER-BRIDGE:I didnt think of anything beyond the play at that point.
It took me a year to adapt it because it was so close to me as a play.
I learned hard and fast.
HORGAN:Do you take notes on your phone?
WALLER-BRIDGE:Yeah, I do drafts of emails.
Whats the last one youve got?
HORGAN:Should I tell you?
It says [holds up phone to screen], Sat beside a pornographer.
[Laughs] I was invited to a dinner, and I asked, What do you do?
He was a pornographer.
Things sometimes land in your lap, you know?
HORGAN:His wife was sitting opposite from me, and she worked in wine.
WALLER-BRIDGE:What a chic couple.
Like, have pizza running down her ts!
I always thought, no, we need to do the opposite.
[Pause] Are you good at deadlines?
HORGAN:I give myself false deadlines, and I give other people false deadlines, too.
WALLER-BRIDGE:Do you stick to your own?
HORGAN:I take a stab at.
WALLER-BRIDGE:Im very impressed.
I leave everything till the last minute.
Im a terrible, terrible wait, I should not be saying this.
Cause, honestly, this is the opposite of what Ive been telling my producers.
Once, I wrote a whole episode ofFleabagovernight.
And I always think I might do that again.
But Im still drafting the first episode ofKilling Eveand its been years!
I dont think Ive been satisfied with a script that Ive written.
Or looked at something Ive written and thought, Done!
HORGAN:Thats the best way to be.
WALLER-BRIDGE:What I love aboutCatastropheis the glory of peeking behind the curtain of a married couples lives.
Something we always said aboutFleabag it has to be the glory of being a woman.
And I think that is so strong in everything youve made.
You always shine the light on the glory of it all.
And then youre all like, bloody hell, really?
Then you think, S, I have to keep making this show for that woman!
Season 3 ofCatastrophearrives on Amazon Prime on April 28; season 1 ofFleabagis currently available on the same service.
