Phoebe's F-word rant to stay calm

Indiana Jones star's backstage routine

- LAURA ARMSTRONG

PHOEBE Waller-Bridge swears by an unusual technique for conquering stage fright.

Nerves were getting the better of the Fleabag actor before a performance until a co-star suggested a backstage, expletive-filled rant would calm her.

Since then Phoebe, 37, has not looked back and this month she makes her big-screen debut as Helena Shaw in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. She's the goddaughter of archaeologist Indy, played by Harrison Ford, who helps him hunt down a legendary artefact.

It's a far cry from her uncomfortable experience in Noel Coward's play Hay Fever in the West End in 2011.

She said: "I suddenly got stage fright. And this amazing actor could see I was getting nervous. He took me out (behind the curtain) and I could hear the buzz of the audience.