
‘Ted Lasso’ star Hannah Waddingham reveals what motivated her to join the show
British actress Hannah Waddingham was most motivated to join the award-winning show Ted Lasso due to family commitments.
The singer and actress, 50, revealed in a recent interview that her main concern was being in close proximity to her now nine-year-old daughter Kitty—who suffers from an autoimmune disorder called Henoch-Schönlein Purpura affecting her kidneys.
When she landed the opportunity to play Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso, Waddingham was relieved to know the set was only about 40 minutes away from her home, Express UK reported.
Waddingham, who has also starred in Game Of Thrones and several theatre shows, noted that the timing of her success felt just right.
“I think the good thing is that it has happened at this point in my career,” the Emmy-winning actress said.
She continued, “Looking back that is exactly how I would have planned it because it means you don’t get above yourself and you value everything that comes your way.”
The actress told Ellen DeGeneres about all the boxes the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso ticked for her.
“I just said ‘thank you for what you’ve given me already but can I please ask for something that is close to home so I can do my main role which is to be a mother’,” and further requested, “Also can I ask that it’s something that really shows what I can do and I hope that’s not asking too much.”
The actress recalled assuring her daughter that “mummy will only ever be away when it’s for a really, blooming good reason.”
In addition to her Emmy, she has also bagged the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022.
On the professional front, she’s been cast in the upcoming Mission: Impossible 8 and shared the screen with Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy.
Currently, she’s gracing ITV X’s period drama Tom Jones as Lady Bellaston, a role she never thought she’d land. “It’s eluded me forever,” she confessed.
A fourth season of Ted Lasso is also confirmed to be in the works.