Phoebe Waller-Bridge on Amazon Deal, Exiting Mr. & Mrs. Smith Series
Ava Bailey Phoebe Waller-Bridge is opening up about her decision to walk away from Amazon‘s Mr. & Mrs. Smith series.
The writer-actress recently sat down with Vanity Fair for an interview where she discussed her eight-figure overall deal with Amazon, why she exited theMr. & Mrs. Smith series and whether she will be directing the next James Bond film.
Although the multihyphenate closed the door on her hit streaming show Fleabag with its second and final season in 2019, there was the potential for a new project to come out of her multiyear deal with Amazon in a Mr. & Mrs. Smith TV reboot she was set to appear in alongside Donald Glover.
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In September 2021, it was announced that Waller-Bridge was exiting the straight-to-series adaptation of the Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film, with sources saying that Waller-Bridge had a different creative vision for the series than Glover.
When opening up about walking away from the series, Waller-Bridge said she “really cared” about the project.
“I worked on that show for six months fully in heart and mind and really cared about it — still care about it,” Waller-Bridge said. “And I know it’s gonna be brilliant. But sometimes it’s about knowing when to leave the party. You don’t want to get in the way of a vision. Creative collaboration is like a marriage, and some marriages don’t work out.”
Yet, the actress also feels that she wants to do right by Amazon Studios after they, in her words, “took a punt on her.” Describing herself as “creatively controlling,” Waller-Bridge said Amazon understands how she is, explaining, “They’ve been with me along this process where I’m like, ‘I’m getting there, but I want it to be fucking amazing.'”
As for rumors Waller-Bridge is directing the next James Bond movie after only directing a single music video, she laughed it off. “My mum sent me that rumor too,” Waller-Bridge said while coyly laughing it away. “So the obvious leap is James Bond.”
Later on, Waller-Bridge also shared surprising advice when asked if she could tell her 20-year-old self anything. “Are you fucking kidding me? I would be asking her to tell me everything! Remind me, remind me. And she’d say: ‘Fuck ’em all. Get out there and burn shit down,'” she said.
