LOS ANGELES, Sept 8 — Bad news for the small screen adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The series in development at Amazon has just lost its main actress. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has decided to leave the adventure in which she was set to star alongside Donald Glover. So what’s behind her departure?
Is there bad blood between the Community actor and the Fleabag actress? Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge will no longer be working together on the series adaptation of the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The two actors were set to play the fictional couple, portrayed by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, in the 2005 film. The married couple are unaware that their partner is also a spy.
The reasons that prompted Phoebe Waller-Bridge to withdraw from the project have nothing to do with her acting partner, but are due to creative differences, according to Variety. According to sources close to the project, the departure of the British actress was amicable and frictionless.
But it is a setback for the production, which will have to recast the female lead. For the moment, no other actress has been mentioned as potentially taking up the role. Shooting should begin in 2022, said Variety.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge was also one of the executive producers of the series alongside Donald Glover. Glover, at the origin of the project, will remain co-producer of the project and lead male actor.
Amazon Studios’ Jennifer Salke unveiled the cast of the series with a teaser on Instagram back in February 2021. Francesca Sloane (Atlanta) will remain as showrunner.
After conquering the world of television with her series Fleabag and Killing Eve, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is currently in the middle of shooting Indiana Jones 5. She also took part in the next James Bond movie No Time to Die, set to hit cinemas October 6 in the US, as a screenwriter. — ETX Studio
