Fleabag star Sian Clifford says she ‘felt dead inside’ until her on-screen sister Phoebe Waller-Bridge rescued her acting career
Viewers love her portrayal of Fleabag’s highly strung and ambitious older sister Claire.
But until the part in the hit comedy came along, Sian Clifford’s acting career was in the doldrums.
Now she has revealed how she became hot screen property thanks to Phoebe Waller-Bridge – who created the show… and is also her best friend.
Fleabag star Sian Clifford (right) says she ‘felt dead inside’ until her on-screen sister Phoebe Waller-Bridge (left) rescued her acting career
Clifford claims she was saved from long periods of unemployment by Waller-Bridge’s insistence that she join her BBC show.
The 37-year-old, who met the Fleabag writer on their first day at drama school, told the Telegraph’s Stella magazine: ‘There were long periods where I didn’t work and my confidence was very low.
‘Phoebe believes in me more than I do myself and there’s no fear of failure when you’re working with someone who has seen you at your best and worst and everything in between.’
The actress credits her on-screen chemistry with WallerBridge, 34, to their friendship.
Clifford (left) and Waller-Bridge (right), who would catch the Tube home together from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art each day, both struggled to make their mark after they graduated in 2006
She said: ‘I guess that’s why Phoebe fought so hard for me to play the role – the dynamic of Claire and Fleabag was just always in us, we didn’t ever have to talk about how to play them.’
She added: ‘I think their relationship is the heart of the show. It’s the clearest and most accurate depiction of sisterhood that I’ve ever seen on screen – it captures so much depth and pain and humour and humanity.’
Clifford and Waller-Bridge, who would catch the Tube home together from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art each day, both struggled to make their mark after they graduated in 2006.
Clifford spent almost four years working as a temp in a London hospital. Referring to that period, she said: ‘It was absolutely soul-destroying. I felt dead inside.’
The actress credits their on-screen chemistry to their friendship. Pictured: On the set of Fleabag
But the global success of Fleabag means she now has her pick of roles.
She is in series two of ITV crime drama Liar and next month she will star in Quiz, about the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? cheating scandal.
She plays the wife of ‘coughing major’ Charles Ingram, who was accused of cheating to win the show’s £1million jackpot in 2001.
Clifford said: ‘What fascinated me reading the scripts was that it treated the Ingrams as human beings. They are very ordinary people in this extraordinary situation.’