“I prefer not to know exactly how I feel about a character,” says the Emmy-winning actor, writer and producer (whose new book is “Fleabag: The Scriptures”). “I definitely started walking like a badass while reading Lisbeth Salander.”
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Definitely Shakespeare. I want to look that guy in the eye. I’d tell him there were other people invited, so he would definitely come. But in the end there’d just be an intense little table in a tiny room, lit by a single candle and me saying: “O.K. Come on. How the f—”
“I prefer not to know exactly how I feel about a character,” says the Emmy-winning actor, writer and producer (whose new book is “Fleabag: The Scriptures”). “I definitely started walking like a badass while reading Lisbeth Salander.”
What books are on your nightstand?
George Saunders’s “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline” and “Three Women,” by Lisa Taddeo.
What’s the last great book you read?
“So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away,” by Richard Brautigan.
Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
Wine. Armchair. Raining. Or reading in the same room as someone else who’s reading. It’s rare, but there’s a particular sort of peace to it.
What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?
“I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild’s Pocket Book,” edited by Iona Opie and Peter Opie with illustrations by Maurice Sendak. It’s a collection of chants and rhymes for children that I was given by my very conservative grandmother. She didn’t realize what kind of subversive, morbid glory was in there. It haunted her for years as I learned everything by heart and recited it to her endlessly.
Which playwrights and other writers — novelists, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most?
There are so many, but I’m perpetually in waiting — and I’m not alone — for Donald Glover’s next work. Kim Addonizio’s poetry gives me physical energy, particularly “For Desire” and “What Do Women Want?” Kate Tempest is our modern philosopher, Carole Cadwalladr changed the world and Natasha Gordon is one of the most exciting playwrights out there right now.
You were brought in to work on the latest James Bond script. Have you read the original Bond books by Ian Fleming — and if so, what do you think are the best and worst?
I hadn’t read them, but started while I was working on the movie. I don’t want to say which ones I was inspired by just yet.
What book would you most like to see turned into a movie or TV show that hasn’t already been adapted?
Daphne du Maurier’s “The Blue Lenses” would be a trip. You’d have to be high.
What character from literature would you most like to play?
Cathy Ames in “East of Eden,” by John Steinbeck, although Jodie Comer is perfect casting for her. I actually opened the pitch document for “Killing Eve” with Steinbeck’s description of his monstrous beauty. It’s a passage that stopped me in my tracks when I first read it. I’d never come across such a twisted female character. It was electrifying to read. Even her author was obsessed by her.
What writers are especially good on frustrated love?
Ernest Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway.
Has a book ever brought you closer to another person, or come between you?
I am always drawn to people who love “The Master and Margarita,” by Mikhail Bulgakov.
What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
That orgasms can be brought on by art, and vice versa.
Which subjects do you wish more authors would write about?
I wish more people would write from the point of view of tiny, witty animals.
What moves you most in a work of literature?
When someone finds a new way to describe love or grief.
Or when you realize that the storyteller has been doing something to you without you realizing. Sometimes just the artistry of the writing can move me! I love being manipulated!
Do you prefer books that reach you emotionally, or intellectually?
Agh, if I had to choose, I’d say emotionally. But ideally there’s both.
How do you organize your books?
I don’t! They are all over the place!
What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?
I’m a big fan of Charles Bukowski. He was an old dog, but I love how visceral his writing is.
Have you ever changed your opinion of a book based on information about the author?
“Frankenstein” took my breath away, but when I discovered Mary Shelley was 19 when she wrote it my head blew off.
Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine? Your favorite antihero or villain?
I do have a penchant for an antiheroine/hero. I prefer not to know exactly how I feel about a character. I definitely started walking like a badass while reading Lisbeth Salander. I was horrified yet set alight by the brutal amorality of Sebastian Dangerfield from J. P. Donleavy’s “The Ginger Man,” and I’ll never quite shake the impact of Cheryl Glickman from “The First Bad Man,” by Miranda July. Humbert Humbert in “Lolita” was the most unforgettable, uncomfortable relationship I’ve had with a character I can remember. There are so many!
What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?
I was obsessive about particular books. There’s no cool way of saying this but I was really into irreverent poetry for my first decade and a half. Most likely set off by my poor grandmother. I never went anywhere without my copy of “Thawing Frozen Frogs,” by Brian Patten. The Point Horror books were a feature, Roald Dahl was a champion, but Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy defined me as a young reader. I lived between those pages. I remember the physical ache of wanting to be deep in those worlds. I even wrote to Pullman asking if I could play Lyra. Still waiting.
How have your reading tastes changed over time?
I don’t really know. I just want to be transported. I’m still intimidated by massive tomes. Looking back, I started out feeling reading was an escape, then a chore, then a habit, then a luxury. Only now I’ve realized what a necessity it is, and how easily it’s taken for granted.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?
Well, of course the sexy ’70s classic “Forever,” by Judy Blume, was banned from my school because a Certain Page was getting the students all sweaty. But any number of detentions were worth being caught with it and I had … one or two detentions. Not dissimilarly, years later, I picked up Anaïs Nin’s “Little Birds” while browsing Waterstones and stood frozen there, entranced, for about an hour until an employee had to remind my flushed face that Waterstones isn’t a library and I had to remind myself that erotic short stories should be read in private.
You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Definitely Shakespeare. I want to look that guy in the eye. I’d tell him there were other people invited, so he would definitely come. But in the end there’d just be an intense little table in a tiny room, lit by a single candle and me saying: “O.K. Come on. How the f—”
Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
Ha. I’m not going to tell you that.
What do you plan to read next?
“Ghost Wall,” by Sarah Moss, and “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.
James Bond's Daughter Getting Own Spy Franchise Made By Killing Eve Writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge
James Bond’s Daughter Getting Own Spy Franchise Made By Killing Eve Writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Super-spy James Bond is finally becoming a dad – and filmmakers already have big plans for his daughter.
Pictures from the new 007 film set show the spy with his little girl, who may become a chip off the old block.
A movie insider says writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge – who created Killing Eve and worked on the new Bond – has been asked to develop a story where Bond’s daughter Mathilde trains to…
