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Let’s talk about Lady Phoebe. She’s an aristocratic socialite whose every move is followed by paparazzi, but despite what many may assume, she’s arguably the nicest person in her group of friends. What really stood out to you about her?
When I got that audition and I read the character’s signature and it was like, ‘She’s famous, and she likes tabloids, and she’s a party girl,’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah , I know the genre.” But then it followed with “but he’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet”. I thought that was such a pretty take… You know, we laugh at these characters at the end of the day, but it’s really nice that even though she’s privileged, she’s trying to get by , and she shows kindness to everyone who enters her world. And just because she doesn’t step out of her world doesn’t mean she’s necessarily a bad person. So it was really lovely. And it’s also nice.
I was always happy on the set, finally, for the first part. I remember we were all standing in Sundry House, the Sundry House set, and one of our directors said, ‘And remember, you all hate Joe or Jonathan. Y’all suspect him,” then he said, “Except Phoebe! And I was like, “Aw, that’s just adorable.” And I was like, “See, Penn, I’m your friend.” And he was like, “Yeah, you’re friends with a serial killer.” And I thought, “Wait, actually, that’s right. This makes her even more vulnerable. That’s the thing that worried me even more when we were running the scripts. … I hope Joe recognizes that she is a good person because even the best people in the past [seasons] he always blamed them. … I hope if he can see the goodness of the character, then the audience, in turn, will see it because we’re looking at it through Joe’s lens.
It’s true, everyone in the group has suspicions about Joe except for Phoebe. Why do you think that is?
I don’t know if it’s just because she blindly trusts him for some reason because he’s interesting and he’s American and he’s gorgeous. So she’s like, “Great! There’s nothing wrong with you. So maybe she’s looking at it from a superficial point of view. I don’t know, but I also think he showed her kindness, and she’s always been in front of people who’ve been tougher or more bitchy. Even the men she surrounds herself with are sometimes just as bitchy as the girls. I think she’s so welcoming, and she sees a guy who’s not from London, doesn’t have many friends, and she wants to extend that kindness that she has towards him, and she feels like he’s this lost little lamb that needs to be taken under his wing, and she has the means to do it. So I think that’s the least of her worries. It’s like, “Yeah, sure, hang out with us. That’s no problem. Let me know more about you, and I hope you can give me some love that I desperately need that I’m not getting from anyone else.
In terms of character building, did you have any specific people or references in mind?
I had a few. At first I thought she was going to be a little more Kate Moss, a little more rock and roll. But it’s just because I want to be Kate Moss even though I’m not cool like Kate Moss. There’s a joke in my group of friends that I’m probably Kate Moss’ grandmother, just like an old lady. So I thought, “Yeah, she’s like Kate Moss rock and roll!” And they threw me, and I [thought], “Actually no, she’s probably a little more stuffy and proper.” But I know that style-wise…and actually character-wise, she was also very much based on Paris Hilton because that’s the most obvious reference. When we think of the pink heiress, we think of Paris. You know, Paris is also sadly nice to her fans. Not to get into spoiler territory, but the way Phoebe treats her stalker is incredibly kind. Watching the Paris documentary, she really invites her fans to meet her, and I can imagine Phoebe probably doing the same.
Also, [I was inspired by] our British socialites, especially from the 90s, who have always been photographed having fun in the evening, being girly girls. They’re all having an evening with white wine, but they get photographed doing it and maybe stumble to another bar. I got a lot of references from it. I think Phoebe is alluding to being a party girl, but we don’t really see that onscreen because a lot of it is about how she interacts with people.
She seems like a fun character to play, especially from a fashion standpoint. Can you tell me about the conversations about Phoebe’s wardrobe?
Our costume designer, Sam Perry, is amazing and I love him. She put me in the coolest clothes I think I’ll ever wear on a TV show. So obviously the mood board was a lot of Paris Hilton—Paris Hilton and blazer dresses and power suits because at the end of the day, Phoebe is a businesswoman like Paris Hilton, and they’re they companies themselves, so she has to take herself seriously sometimes. We had a whole day of shopping where it was like stepping into the cave of designer dresses from Aladdin, and it was amazing. We wanted her to feel sexy in her clothes but not desperately sexy. She’s hot because she wants her boyfriend to like her and notice him slipping away.
We had a whole day of shopping for that first dress from the first episode, and I remember the rating was something like… Because I tried on so many sparkly dresses and this one was big enough for me, the rating [said] that it looks like he could fall at any moment, which he did. I feel like walking around in that dress in the first episode like I have rigor mortis. I was so afraid that this dress would fall. I never raise my arms. So yeah, it was just sexy, and even when she’s wearing a pearl necklace, she’s a Vivi Westwood. It’s funny, I call her Vivi Westwood as I know her. Rest in peace. You know, it’s fun. She always takes something quintessentially British and chic and puts a fun flare on it. And even if I wore a plain pink dress, they would put garlands in my hair. So that was a lot for Barbie.
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