Hannah Waddingham is an English Award winning actress, a presenter, a veteran stage actress in Broadway and West End, a singer, and the main regular actor featured in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso and played the character Rebecca Welton. As a singer, she has a four octave vocal range and she did her own singing in the show.
History[]
Hannah Waddingham was born in London, and her mother, Melodie Kelly, was an opera singer, as were both of her maternal grandparents. Her mother joined the English National Opera when she was eight years old, and she grew up around the theatre.
She is a graduate of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and started out in dinner theatre, performing in the interactive comedy Joni and Gina's Wedding, an interactive dinner theater comedy based in California. Audience members are "wedding guests" who mingle with actors posing as members of an eclectic wedding party. A portion of the proceeds were donated to the Equality Campaign, which helps to fight against U.S. constitutional amendments that discriminate against same-sex marriage.
Careers and Awards[]
Stage and Theater[]
She has been a stage actress on both London's West End and New York's Broadway since 2002. She portrayed the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, both in the London production and then on Broadway. She received an Olivier Award nomination for the role. She received outstanding reviews for her portrayal of Desirée Armfeldt in Trevor Nunn's revival of A Little Night Music, including being described by one critic as the "Joanna Lumley of musical theatre". She subsequently received a further Olivier Award nomination in 2010 for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Night Music.
In mid-2010, Waddingham played the Witch in the production of Into the Woods at London's Open Air Theatre. She originated the role of The Wicked Witch of the West in the West End production of The Wizard of Oz, which opened on 1 March 2011 at the London Palladium and was the first to perform the new Lloyd Webber and Rice song "Red Shoes Blues". Waddingham won the whatsonstage.com Theatergoers Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance.
TV and Movie[]
She is a veteran of 21st century British television, having played key roles in Benidorm, Partners in Crime, In the Club and Sex Education. American viewers might know her best from her role of "Jax-Ur" on Krypton and "Septa Unella" on HBO's Game of Thrones. She started filming nine weeks after giving birth to her daughter, and did her own stunts for a scene in which she is waterboarded. She was given the role's iconic "shame bell" as a parting gift. Eagle-eyed viewers of British television will also have spotted her playing significant guest roles on British comedy classics like Bad Education, My Hero, and Coupling.
She also appears as the character Mother Witch in Hocus Pocus 2, Disney's sequel to Hocus Pocus released on Disney+ on 30 September 2022. The actor's time on screen has been described as an "Oscar-worthy performance" and "From the moment she enters, she commands the screen with unquestionable authority."
In March 2023, she was announced as part of the cast for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two.
Eurovision Presenter and Singer[]
In May 2023, she co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, alongside Alesha Dixon and Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, with Graham Norton joining them for the final. She gained widespread praise, with The Guardian dubbing her an "overnight national treasure".
Her Ted Lasso's co-star Tom Hendryk who played Tom O'Brien in the show was part of the news media and entertainment reporters, and surprised her by asking her a question whether she has other plan to "dominate the world". His appearance delighted her as she didn't expect to see Tom there asking a question during the press meeting.
In 2000, the singer played the role of Christine in the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton musical The Beautiful Game in London's West End. In October 2000, she (billed simply as "Hannah"), released a single of the song "Our Kind of Love" from the production. The single peaked at No. 41 in the UK charts.
She later sang the role of Starbird on the soundtrack recording of Space Family Robinson (composers: Julian Butler & Stephen Butler), released by Pop! Records in May 2002, coinciding with the stage production (also featuring Waddingham as Starbird) which ran for three weeks at London's Pleasance Theatre.
Ted Lasso[]
From 2020 to 2023, she portrayed Rebecca Welton, the owner of AFC Richmond, on the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. The show was praised for its "refreshing" portrayal of a supportive female friendship between Rebecca and Juno Temple's character, Keeley Jones. She did her own singing in the season one episode "Make Rebecca Great Again" and the season two episodes "Carol of the Bells" and "No Weddings and a Funeral".
In 2021, she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the role.
White House Visit[]
The cast of Ted Lasso along with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
When the Ted Lasso cast got invited to visit the White House, she and co-stars Jason Sudeikis, Toheeb Jimoh, and Brendan Hunt made an appearance during a press briefing, where Sudeikis spoke about mental health and co-star James Lance made a fun cameo as fictional Independent reporter Trent Crimm.
They spoke briefly on the importance of fighting the stigma that’s often associated with seeking help for mental health problems — a theme of the show. Jason Sudeikis encouraged everyone to make sure to check in regularly with family, friends and neighbors who may be struggling and ask how they’re doing.
After the briefing, Sudeikis and his castmates met behind closed doors with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, according to the White House. The White House on Monday touted Biden’s designation of nearly $500 million to increase capacity for the national suicide hotline and to help connect local callers with local responders. In 2020, Congress approved transitioning the 10-digit suicide hotline to three simple numbers — 988.
Personal Life[]
Her daughter has an autoimmune disease, a Henoch–Schönlein Purpura. The actress keeps her Emmy award in her daughter's bedroom to remind her that "mummy will only ever be away when it's for a really, blooming good reason."
External link[]
- Hannah Waddingham at IMDb