"We didn’t do too much rehearsal"- Phoebe Waller-Bridge opens up about her Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny preparation

With the fifth and possibly final Indiana Jones finally out in the theatres, it is quite the celebratory time for the talented cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which also involved the brilliant Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Of course, it involved a lot more, including the return of Harrison Ford in the titular role of the globe-trotting archaeologist.

There were a lot of changes for this Indiana Jones, including the fact that it was the first film to be helmed by James Mangold and not Steven Spielberg, who directed the first four films in the franchise. There was also an excess of other new characters, including Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Helena Shaw, Jones' goddaughter.

Of course, it was quite an experience for the English actress, who has not participated in something like this before. Apart from all the fun she had in the fight choreographies, Waller-Bridge revealed many interesting details about their preparation for the film in an interview with LucasFilm.com.

"There wasn’t much improvisation,...We stuck to the script, which I always think is actually a relief. When the script’s that good, it’s all about finding the chemistry and the rhythm within it. We would talk a lot with Jim [Mangold, the director] beforehand, but we didn’t do too much rehearsal… There were little moments throughout that sort of occur naturally. But we did have a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun," she said.

She also added a few more interesting facts about the shooting procedure in the same interview.

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"Oh my gosh, I had the time of my life": Phoebe Waller-Bridge on her fight scenes in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Phoebe Waller-Bridge was quite a shocking addition to the new Indiana Jones film, having appeared in completely different kinds of projects before. Hence, for the actress, this was both an exciting new experience and something that was a lot of fun on the first go. She did admit that it was initially a nervy affair but Harrison Ford helped out a lot in this case:

"It was actually our first scene [working] together. And it was quite a quiet scene,” she recalls during an interview alongside Ford. “And I said [to Harrison], ‘I feel a little nervous. If I ever do anything a bit rubbish, please tell me and I’ll do it again."

But she also revealed how fun it was for her:

"Oh my gosh, I had the time of my life,...The advice [Ford] gave me when I have to take a punch — ‘Imagine that I’m drunk,’ — was really useful! I’m going to take that through my life, in life and in my work...It was very, very important to me that I rehearsed not punching Harrison over and over,"

Apart from Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny also starred Mikkelsen as Jürgen Voller, Antonio Banderas as Renaldo, John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, Toby Jones as Basil Shaw, Boyd Holbrook as Klaber, Shaunette Renée Wilson as Mason, and Ethann Isidore as Teddy Kumar, among others.

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered on June 30, 2023, theatrically after making splashes earlier at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.