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Phoebe Fox breaks down the contradictions behind her character Serena in War, from her hunger for professional success and complicated marriage to the unexpected vulnerabilities beneath her carefully controlled exterior.
In HBO Max’s legal drama War, Phoebe Fox plays Serena, a fiercely intelligent and ambitious divorce lawyer whose sharp instincts and commanding presence make her a formidable force in the courtroom. But beneath her polished exterior lies a woman navigating the competing demands of professional ambition, marriage, impending motherhood, and a deeply personal need for validation.
One of the defining characteristics of Serena is the extraordinary speed at which she processes information. For Fox, translating that internal intelligence into something visible on screen required a combination of physical choices and an exceptionally fast delivery.
“I quite like seeing the cogs turning,” Fox explained, describing how she deliberately used her eyes to suggest Serena’s mind working while other characters were speaking.
The dialogue itself presented another challenge, although Fox found that her previous experience working on The Great had provided useful preparation.
“Tony McNamara is a real stickler for thinking on the line and not breaking it up,” she said. “His sort of general note is, ‘Do it quickly.’”
Fox also recognized similarities between the two projects in their witty, slightly heightened language. Her ability to deliver dialogue at such a rapid pace became so instinctive on set that recreating it during additional dialogue recording sessions proved surprisingly difficult. Yet Serena’s intelligence is only one element of her authority. Although she presents herself with a certain softness, Fox believes the character possesses a far more ruthless ambition than she would ever openly acknowledge.
“I think she would be shocked if someone was to accuse her of being slightly power hungry,” Fox said. “I think she has a bit of a blind spot.”
She recalled a scene in which Serena delivers a speech to her colleagues and lingers just a little too long in their applause, savoring the recognition before Nick pulls her away.
“She’s this closeted power-hungry person,” Fox explained. “What she presents is quite soft in some respects, but actually she has quite a ruthless streak to her.”
At the center of Serena’s story is her marriage to Nick, with the couple operating together as professional partners while navigating the considerable risks surrounding their legal practice Fox described their relationship as one built on opposing but complementary personalities.
“She’s the fire in the marriage,” she explained. “That kind of passion and drive is probably what’s taken them to their level of success.”
Where Serena approaches challenges with fearlessness and a willingness to take risks, Nick provides a more measured perspective.
“He balances her out by being the voice of reason and caution,” Fox said, describing him as a “still mountain” compared with Serena’s relentless energy.
To develop that contrast, Fox imagined differences in the characters’ backgrounds. While Nick came from a privileged educational environment, she drew inspiration for Serena from intelligent, ambitious girls she had known at her London state school who had to fight for opportunities. That imagined history helped explain Serena’s scrappier instincts and willingness to gamble on her own abilities.
“She has to take risks because she has always had to take risks to get ahead,” Fox said. “It was not handed to her on a plate.”
The couple’s differences become especially significant as their professional ambitions threaten to affect their personal lives. Their shared career means that a major failure could jeopardize not simply one person’s livelihood but the stability of their entire relationship, particularly as they prepare to become parents. Fox enjoyed exploring the blurred boundaries between their professional and domestic identities.
“There’s very little separation,” she explained. “It’s all crossover. It’s all gray area.”
Some of her favorite scenes to film were the quieter domestic moments in which Serena and Nick could interact away from the dense legal dialogue. Those sequences provided an opportunity for more spontaneous performances and helped reveal the affection, frustration, and familiarity underpinning their marriage.
“That's where you find out more, I think, about the character,” Fox said, praising the chemistry she developed with her co-star.
Serena’s pregnancy adds another dimension to the character, but Fox was determined that it should not overwhelm her professional storyline.
“I was also keen for us to just let her be pregnant and let it not be really part of the thrust of the story,” she explained.
To ground the performance in reality, Fox spoke with a divorce lawyer about the experience of being pregnant while working in the profession. Their conversations covered everything from workplace attitudes toward pregnancy to whether Serena would continue wearing heels. Fox was encouraged to hear that pregnancy could be openly embraced in the professional environment rather than something Serena would feel compelled to conceal. Her decision to continue wearing heels became less about external expectations and more about Serena’s personal relationship with power.
“It’s sort of like your work armor,” Fox said.
While Serena outwardly projects unwavering confidence, one of her most revealing relationships is with Beatrice, a more experienced lawyer and her former boss whose professional approval carries enormous emotional weight. Fox approached their interactions through the lens of a mentor-mentee relationship that has evolved into a professional rivalry. In one scene, Beatrice congratulates Serena on her pregnancy. Although the line was written as a genuine expression of goodwill, Fox suggested introducing another emotional layer.
She imagined Serena turning toward Beatrice expecting recognition for her professional achievements, only to receive congratulations about the baby instead.
“What she wants from this woman is for her to say, ‘You’re an amazing lawyer and you’ve done really well and I’m proud of you,’” Fox explained.
Instead, the exchange leaves Serena quietly devastated. The moment exposes an insecurity that Serena herself may not fully understand.
“She’s got a big old mother wound, really, Serena,” Fox said. “She just wants mommy to love her.”
That vulnerability becomes increasingly important as the legal battle progresses, particularly when Serena admits to Nick that she cannot bear the thought of losing in court in front of Beatrice. Despite her supreme confidence in her own abilities, Serena remains deeply affected by the possibility of disappointing someone whose validation she has spent years seeking.
Fox also wondered whether pregnancy made Serena more willing to acknowledge her fears.
“There’s something about being pregnant which can make you feel a bit vulnerable,” she reflected, suggesting that the experience of carrying a child might make Serena more cautious and emotionally exposed than she would otherwise allow herself to be.
Beyond the personal and professional rivalry, War also explores the expectations placed on women operating in powerful environments. One particularly revealing scene sees Serena advising Carla, played by Sienna Miller, about how to present herself before a judge. The conversation reflects Serena’s awareness that appearances, language, and behavior can carry different implications for women, especially when public perception becomes part of a legal strategy.
Fox connected those pressures to her own experiences working as an actress.
“I could really relate to all of that stuff about how careful we have to be about what we present,” she explained.
She recalled moments earlier in her career when she felt compelled to temper her intelligence and opinions around older male colleagues.
“I was told a lot, ‘You have too many opinions about your character,’” Fox said.
For her, the scenes between Serena and Carla offered an opportunity to explore those shared experiences without the presence of male characters, revealing how women can understand one another’s professional challenges even while navigating an unequal power dynamic.
From the unpredictable behavior of their clients to the emotional pressures of marriage and impending parenthood, Serena and Nick repeatedly discover the limitations of their professional authority. And while Serena may be one of the sharpest minds in the room, Fox’s performance continually reveals the insecurity, ambition, humor, and emotional disorder beneath her formidable exterior.
Watch the full conversation with Phoebe Fox on Welcome to the Stage, where she discusses bringing Serena to life in HBO Max’s War and the creative choices behind the character’s most revealing moments.
