"There's this woman, Phoebe, who's amazing…"
Actor and writer Jessica Knappett discusses sitcoms, podcasting — and giving a certain Ms Waller-Bridge a leg-up…
Jiksaw
- Kelly-Anne Taylor
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What’s the view from your sofa?
We’re very lazy in our house – so the TV is actually in our bedroom. It sounds cheap, doesn’t it? It’s one of those fancy TVs that has a frame, and you can put pretend artwork on it. We’ve tried to make it classy – but the reality is we just watch loads of TV in bed!
So what are you watching from under the duvet?
I’m about to take a month off work – mainly to watch television. The problem with making TV is you don’t really get to watch much of it because it’s so time-consuming! I’ve been watching The Bear, which is fantastic and a masterpiece. And, because I have young children, we watch Bluey and The Lego Batman Movie on repeat. Genuinely, I think Bluey is the best sitcom on television. It has made me cry multiple times…
Your big break came in 2011’s The Inbetweeners Movie. When did you first decide you wanted to go into acting and comedy?
As soon as I became conscious that it was the best way to get my parents’ attention. My parents are comedy nerds, so I could recite Monty Python by the age of seven. They both had really stressful jobs in the NHS, and I became very aware of the power of comedy to change people’s moods.
You were raised in Bradford and went to university in Manchester. Was it tricky to get a break in comedy outside of London?
I really resisted moving to London for so long. I was so adamant that the definition of success should not be leaving where you came from. I clung to the North. And, actually, back then we were quite fortunate, because the BBC had a big comedy department up there. I worked behind the scenes, in front of the camera and wrote. Auditions were all in the capital, though. It was costing me so much money travelling, so I had to move to London eventually.
Drifters helped to define a new era where broadcasters were willing to take risks with women
You turned the experiences of your 20s into the E4 sitcom Drifters, which ran for four series from 2013. How do you look back at the show now?
It was bittersweet. It was a comedy about failure, shame, promiscuity and binge-drinking – and that’s great sitcom territory! But I did feel very exposed and embarrassed. I live with that dissonance because I’m really proud of it. It wasn’t a smash hit at the time, but people who loved it really loved it.
In some ways it was the forerunner for other female-led modern comedy dramas like Chewing Gum and Fleabag. Phoebe Waller-Bridge actually wrote for Drifters, didn’t she?
Yes! She couldn’t get a break then! And it was the same for [Saltburn director and former Call the Midwife star] Emerald Fennell. These women were not being seen for their talents. I was saying, “There’s this woman, Phoebe, who’s amazing!” The arm twisting that had to be done… Apart from Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis there hadn’t been any sitcoms written by and starring women. I think Drifters helped to define a new era where broadcasters were willing to take risks with women. We were right at the crest of that wave.
Your new podcast, Perfect Day, sees you ask guests like Romesh Ranganathan or Jessica Gunning about how they would spend their ideal 24 hours. It’s a great listen…
Thank you! I’m very nosy and I wanted to know about people’s everyday lives. I realised if I asked people about their fantasy day, they’d then also tell me a bit about their normal routine. What has really surprised me is how ordinary people’s perfect days are. I’ve said they can go to the Moon, or whatever they want – yet a lot of people just want to potter around. When it comes down to it, people just want to do quite mundane but deeply enjoyable things.
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New episodes of Perfect Day with Jessica Knappett drop every Thursday on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers.
Authors
Kelly-Anne Taylor
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