Hannah Waddingham has said Ted Lasso signalled a huge turning point for her career and how she is perceived in the industry.
The actress, 51, has played the role of Rebecca on the smash hit Apple TV sports comedy for six years – with a fourth season dropping this summer.
She has won an Emmy for the show, but the 5ft 11in actress, who has previously praised Lasso’s co-creator Jason Sudeikis for not caring about her height, admits the real joy has been a break away from typecasting.
Starring in a striking cover shoot for Women’s Health UK, the stage and screen star said Ted Lasso ‘was a turning point in terms of being seen for the first time as not just a tall, bigger woman, but someone who has the same foibles, insecurities, vulnerabilities as anyone’.
The mother of one also admitted another main draw was ‘the financial support I received in that moment… being able to stand on my own two feet with my daughter’.
Hannah has previously explained how she manifested the role after finding herself a single mother to her daughter Kitty, 11, who suffered from health issues.
Hannah Waddingham has gushed what a turning point Ted Lasso was for her career
The actress has played the role of Rebecca on the hit Apple TV sports comedy for six years
‘In that moment, your career could falter because you’re left holding the baby,’ Hannah admitted of how single parenthood affected her.
‘[But] I found in myself a strength. I thought, “No, I’m not going to sit in the corner with a duvet over my head and think, oh, poor me”. I’m going to come out fighting because I know that I have so much to give in my career…
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‘I talk about [single motherhood] all the time because it’s not the same as two parents. I know that sounds ridiculous and obvious, but I think people forget it.
‘People go, “Oh yes, I’m by myself most of the time”. But that’s not the same as being sole provider. She is undoubtedly my greatest achievement because of that.’
The actress was left terrified eight years ago when her daughter, who was three years old at the time, suddenly fell ill and had to be admitted to hospital.
Kitty – who Hannah had with her former partner Gianluca Cugnetto – was suddenly diagnosed with auto-immune disorder Henoch-Schönlein purpura, leading her to take a step back from acting, and in particular any roles that took her far away from home.
It was around this time that Hannah said she manifested the Ted Lasso role, asking the universe for a job that would challenge her as an actress but most importantly was close to her and Kitty’s London home.
Two months late she had her first meeting for the part of Rebecca, which would end up being filmed just half an hour from her home.
Starring in a cover shoot for Women’s Health UK, the stage and screen star, 51, said Ted Lasso ‘was a turning point in terms of being seen for the first time as not just a tall, bigger woman’
The mother of one also admitted another main draw was ‘the financial support I received in that moment… being able to stand on my own two feet with my daughter’
The new season of Ted Lasso drops on August 5, and Hannah says there’s plenty more strong female characters to come from the show
‘I hope people take [this season] to their hearts as much as the first three seasons because the women in this season deserve people to lean in,’ Hannah said
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The full interview is in the June issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now
The new season of Ted Lasso is being released on August 5, and Hannah says there’s plenty more strong female characters to come from the show as Jason’s title character returns to Richmond to coach a second division women’s football team.
‘I hope people take [this season] to their hearts as much as the first three seasons because the women in this season deserve people to lean in,’ Hannah said.
‘The cast are fabulous, too – they walked in and owned it immediately – so I’m very reassured by the younger generation of female actors coming up; they’ve got it and then some.’
The show, which has been on hiatus since 2023, will welcome back Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent and Jeremy Swift as Leslie Higgins, Juno Temple as Keely, and Brendan Hunt as Coach Beard.
There were reports series four would be the final season, but Deadline has since said the new storyline of a women’s team kicks off a planned three-season arc.
The full interview is in the June issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now