Over the past decade, Phoebe Waller-Bridge has established herself as one of the most vital, distinct, and wildly influential voices in global entertainment. Armed with a razor-sharp wit, an unmatched capacity for showcasing raw human messiness, and a Royal Academy of Dramatic Art pedigree, she has spent her career blurring the lines between tragedy and comedy.
While many know her as the genius writer behind hit thrillers like Killing Eve and blockbusters like James Bond’s No Time to Die, today we are focusing on her work in front of the camera. To celebrate her 41st, we are highlighting the six crucial roles that showcase her staggering range as an actress.
6 Roles That Prove Her Limitless Range
1. Fleabag in Fleabag (2016–2019) — The Ultimate Masterclass
There is no looking at Waller-Bridge’s legacy without starting at the guinea-pig café. As the unnamed protagonist of her own magnum opus, she crafted the definitive portrait of 21st-century grief, lust, and familial dysfunction.
What makes her performance so transcendent isn’t just her witty, rapid-fire monologues, but her physical control over the medium. Through a simple look to the side, a micro-flinch, or a hollow smile, she weaponized the fourth wall as an escape hatch from her own emotional pain. It was a role that required her to be simultaneously hilarious, deeply unlikable, and utterly heartbreaking—a tightrope walk that earned her a permanent place in television history.
2. Helena Shaw in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) — The Blockbuster Hero
Stepping into an iconic, multi-billion-dollar franchise alongside Harrison Ford is a daunting task for any actor, but Waller-Bridge handled it with absolute swagger. As Indy’s goddaughter Helena Shaw, she channeled the fast-talking, quick-witted energy of 1940s screwball comedies.
Rather than playing a traditional damsel or a clean-cut hero, she made Helena a cynical, self-serving, and highly competent treasure hunter who acts entirely on her own terms. Her chemistry with Ford was effortlessly dry and punchy, proving she could easily command the screen in a massive, high-octane Hollywood blockbuster.
3. L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) — The Voice & Mo-Cap Marvel
To play a revolutionary, self-modified pilot droll in the Star Wars universe, you have to possess an immense amount of physical and vocal charisma. Acting through a motion-capture suit, Waller-Bridge brought L3-37 to life with a fierce, boundary-pushing personality.
L3-37 is sassy, passionate about droid rights, and completely unapologetic. Waller-Bridge injected the CGI character with incredibly expressive body language and a sharp, comedic delivery, making her tragic sacrifice one of the most emotionally resonant and memorable moments of the entire film.
4. Lulu in Crashing (2016) — The Chaotic Free Spirit
Before Fleabag took over the world, Waller-Bridge wrote and starred in this criminally underrated, six-episode British comedy series about a group of twenty-somethings living as property guardians in an abandoned hospital.
As Lulu, an eccentric, ukulele-playing childhood friend who crashes into the dynamic of the house, she gave us a fascinating prototype of her signature comedic style. Lulu is messy, childish, incredibly inappropriate, and deeply terrified of growing up. Waller-Bridge played her with a manic, nervous energy that balanced laugh-out-loud physical antics with quiet, painful moments of unrequited love.
5. Abby Thompson in Broadchurch (Season 2, 2015) — Pure, Straight-Faced Drama
Many fans who discovered Waller-Bridge through her later, highly comedic roles are often shocked to see her appear in the second season of ITV’s acclaimed, somber crime drama Broadchurch.
Playing Abby Thompson, a sharp, ambitious junior defense barrister tasked with representing a suspected murderer, she completely stripped away her trademark comedic tics. There are no winks to the camera, no eccentric outbursts, and no self-deprecating jokes. Instead, she played Abby with a cold, calculated professionalism and a simmering ambition, proving she can command a heavy, high-stakes courtroom drama just as effectively as a comedy club.
6. Laurel Hallback in Run (2020) — The Delightfully Weird Wildcard
In this HBO romantic thriller series (which she executive produced), Waller-Bridge popped up for a highly memorable three-episode guest arc as Laurel Hallback, an eccentric taxidermist and avid hiker who crosses paths with the main characters on a train.
The role is a brilliant showcase of her love for the absurd. Dressed in outdoorsy gear and wielding a delightfully bizarre, chaotic energy, Laurel is both highly observant and completely unpredictable. It was a brief but brilliant reminder of her ability to step into any scene, steal it entirely from the leads, and leave the audience wondering what on Earth they just witnessed.
As Phoebe Waller-Bridge turns 41 today, she stands at a unique pinnacle of her career.