‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Breakout Phoebe Waller-Bridge Didn’t Know What a Droid Was When She Auditioned — Watch

Anyone who’s seen “Fleabag” or “Killing Eve” knows Phoebe Waller-Bridge is an especially gifted actor and writer, but that doesn’t mean she’s well versed in all things. For instance, she didn’t know what a droid is when auditioning for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” despite the fact that she’s playing one in the new standalone film — not that it stopped her from getting the part.

“I was going to the audition and I thought, ‘This character’s amazing, she’s a revolutionary, she’s really cool, and the dialogue was amazing.’ But it kind of said just in one of the stage directions, ‘droid.’ So I was like, ‘droid, droid…'” she explained on “The Graham Norton Show.” And then I googled ‘droid’ and then nothing much came up, weirdly, just pictures. It wasn’t explicit that it’s a robot.” This led her to extreme measures: asking her cab driver on the way to the audition what a droid is.

He didn’t know and, upon calling his family, found that they didn’t either. Waller-Bridge thus decided to play the character as a human because “most of the times when you audition, it’s a human.” She was asked to perform “a bit more droidy,” and finally realized after being given a bit of direction that “it’s a fucking robot!”

Waller-Bridge’s performance has been praised, with many pointing to her as one of the film’s highlights. Also revealed during the segment: Waller-Bridge had never seen a “Star Wars” movie before auditioning. Watch the full segment below.