‘Fleabag’ Newbie Andrew Scott on the Priest & Fleabag’s ‘Immediate Connection’
Oh, Lord! Fleabag is back … and she has a new crush.
Season 2 of creator, writer, and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s acclaimed tragicomic series finds her titular character — who is never referred to by name — in good spirits, all things considered. She’s still on shaky ground with her flaky dad (Bill Paterson) and overbearing godmother (Olivia Colman, The Crown‘s upcoming Queen Elizabeth II), and isn’t on speaking terms with her sister, Claire (Sian Clifford).
But there is a new man in her life … he just happens to be a man of the cloth.
Growing up in Dublin, Irish actor Andrew Scott knew priests, but he never encountered one quite like his character, who, like Waller-Bridge’s and Colman’s, doesn’t have a name. “I met some that were…maybe conflicted,” he says. “Perhaps not in the same way.”
The priest is about as laid-back — and irreverent — as a clergyman can get, and he seems as drawn to Fleabag as she is to him. “They’re both quite solitary characters. They have this immediate connection,” Scott hints.
He and Waller-Bridge have known each other for years and drew on their natural chemistry for that connection onscreen. “I do feel like there is a love between them,” he says. “Whatever way that turns.”
Fleabag, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, May 17, Amazon Prime Video