While the West End has been aware of Hannah Waddingham for a long time, many of us became aware of this gem of an actress when she showed up as a football club owner on the hit show Ted Lasso. As many of us would now, series star Brett Goldstein had a bit of a fanboy moment the first time he met the actress because of her history on the stage.
The actor behind Roy Kent recently recalled the story of the first time he met his co-star at the first table read alongside the rest of the Ted Lasso cast. Goldstein told The Zero Report (opens in new tab):
At the first read-through, I went over like an insane stalker and told her she was amazing, and that I’d seen all her work. She was polite and scared.
There’s good reason for the actor to be so starstruck. Before Ted Lasso, the average fan likely recognized Waddingham for her role as the nun who shames Cersei on Game of Thrones. However, big fans know she’s had an impressive career on both the West End and Broadway. She has starred in The Wizard of Oz and A Little Night Music, on the West End. The actress also was nominated for an Olivier Award for her role as the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, and she played the character in London and New York City. This is the role Goldstein really loved, as he said:
I consider her one of the best actors I’ve seen on the West End stage. Her voice, her nuance, her comic timing. Her Lady of the Lake [in Spamalot] remains one of the funniest live performances I’ve ever seen.
Luckily, all these aspects Goldstein described we’ve been able to witness on Ted Lasso. In terms of singing, we’ve had the honor of hearing Waddingham’s beautiful voice a few times on the show. She sang “Let It Go” from Frozen in Season 1, and graced us with some lovely holiday songs in Season 2. Her nuance as an actress can be seen throughout the show as well, but especially in the depiction of the friendship between her character Rebecca and Ted Lasso, who is played by Jason Sudeikis. In Season 2 we got to see more of her brilliant comedic timing, and I’d assume we’ll witness even more of it in Ted Lasso Season 3.
Also hearing that Goldstein was geeking out over Waddingham is incredible because they have both received high praise for their roles as Roy and Rebecca, respectively. Both actors, along with others from the cast made their way onto the 2021 Emmy winner list and both were nominated in 2022, with Goldstein winning for a second time and adding his name to the list of 2022 Emmy winners.
The compliments have been flying left and right about Waddingham, from her singing ability, to her acting, to even calling her a “sex symbol.” While we have to wait a while longer for the next season of Ted Lasso you can check out the 2022 TV schedule, as well as Waddingham in the highly anticipated Hocus Pocus 2, or rewatch Seasons 1 and 2 of the incredibly popular football comedy with an Apple TV+ subscription.