Hannah Waddingham says that being cast in Ted Lasso was transformative for her career in several different ways.
Hannah Waddingham covers Women’s Health UK © David Venni / Women’s Health UK
The 51-year-old actress plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton in the hit Apple TV series and explained how getting the part changed perceptions of her and gave her the chance to provide for her daughter Kitty, 12, whom she has with her ex-partner Gianluca Cugnetto.
Speaking to Women’s Health UK magazine, Hannah said: “It 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. But also the financial support I received in that moment…being able to stand on my own two feet with my daughter.”
Ted Lasso – which centres on Jason Sudeikis’ titular American coach and his attempts to lead an English football club to glory – is returning for a fourth season in August and Hannah hopes that viewers embrace the new episodes that centre on AFC Richmond’s women’s team.
The Emmy Award-winner said: “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. 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.”
Hannah became a single mother to Kitty when her daughter was only two years of age and she considers her child’s upbringing to be the “greatest achievement” of her life.
She said: “In that moment, your career could falter because you’re left holding the baby. [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…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 full interview is in the June issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now, and can also be read at
