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Though Hannah Waddingham has appeared in Sex Education, Benidormand Game of Thrones, herrole in Ted Lasso has really taken her career to the next level. Last year she won an Emmy award for her brilliant performance as Rebecca Welton, a London soccer boss who isn't nearly as devious as she initially seems.
With Waddingham's star very much on the rise, we're taking the opportunity to find out more about her. Here are 10 things you might not know about this warm, versatile, and talented performer.
1. She comes from a family of opera singers.
Waddingham's mother Melodie Kelly was a member of the English National Opera for 27 years, and both of Waddingham's maternal grandparents were opera singers, too. Clearly vocal talent runs in the family, but interestingly, Waddingham has admitted she was reluctant to follow in her family members' footsteps.
"I bucked against opera in particular even though I knew it was my actual sound," she told Rose & Ivy Journal. "In my teens, I said I would do this or that but then when I started doing slightly more classical shows like Kiss Me Kate or The Pirate Queen, which I did last February, that sound came out, I was like dammit—it was just there."
2. She is a true musical theater maestro.
Waddingham's extensive stage credits include Monty Python's Spamalot on Broadway and in the West End, Kiss Me, Kate in the West End, The Wizard of Oz in the West End, and Into the Woods at London's Open Air Theatre.
At the Olivier Awards, the top accolade in U.K. theater, Waddingham has been nominated for Best Actress in a Musical three times. Check out her rendition of "Memory" from Cats for a sampling of her impressive vocal range.
3. Before Game of Thrones, she struggled to break into the TV world.
Waddingham told The Times of London last year that TV work had "eluded" her for years. She also said it "appals her" that actors with a musical theater background are often "overlooked" on screen.
Asked why she thinks this is, the actress replied: "We don't take them seriously as actors, [we think they're all] jazz hands, singy, dancey, t**s and teeth. Well, they’re not. They're only doing that because that's what you're required to do. If they were required to do other things? You watch them go. I remember 10, 15 years ago, saying to my own agents, 'Well, are you going to bring any casting directors?' and they would say, 'Oh no, they’re not going to come to a musical.' Like it was a given. It's so rude."
4. Ted Lasso is a game-changing role for her in more ways than one.
Waddingham, who stands at 1.8m according to IMDb, has spoken about being perceived in a certain kind of way because of her stature. "Women of my height or build aren't often seen as somebody who has experienced loss or heartache," Waddingham told Gold Derby last year. "And Jason (Sudeikis)and the camp have allowed me to show that it doesn't matter what you look like or what people perceive you to be; it's all going on just as it is for everyone else."
5. Credited simply as "Hannah," she released a single in 2000.
"Our Kind of Love," Waddingham's rendition of a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's soccer-themed stage musical The Beautiful Game, charted at a very creditable #41 on the U.K. singles chart.
6. She intends to focus on TV work for the foreseeable future.
The reason for this is the arrival of her daughter Kitty in 2016, which has altered Waddingham's outlook on her life and career.
"I was in theater for 20 years, both here [in the U.K.] and on Broadway. And that was at a time when I didn't have a little person," she told Town & Country last year. "And now I'm hugely blessed not only to have a child, but to have been able to choose to move to television and to be accepted into that world where I can be Mummy as much as I can and be away from her as little as possible.
"The biggest giftTed Lassohas given me is that it's shot 40 minutes from my house," she added. "And trust me, I am a theater girl through and through in my bloodstream, but I want to be able to put my little girl to bed at night."
7. She got to keep her iconic "shame bell" from Game of Thrones.
Waddingham revealed as much during an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, saying: "That's when you know that your character is really dead. When they give you like, the 'hero' thing of your character. They're like, 'Thank you very much and goodbye.'"
8. Her Emmy for Ted Lasso is kept in her daughter's bedroom.
As CTV News reported at the time, Waddingham revealed her plans for the trophy backstage at the Emmy Awards, right after her win."My little girl and I have become such a little unit because I am a single mum," she said. "And I just wanted to say to her that she can have this in her bedroom to show her that her mummy will only ever be away when it's for a really, blooming good reason."
9. She sang with the London Gay Men's Chorus (LGMC) on a TV special in 2014.
Titled Our Gay Wedding: The Musical, the special marked same-sex marriage becoming legal in England and Wales.Waddingham's rendition of "Make Your Own Kind of Music" with the LGMC is just lovely.
10. She's kind of glad she didn't become famous earlier.
This is partly because she feels better equipped to handle the attention, and partly because she likes showing that "women of a certain age" in the entertainment industry can still enjoy a breakthrough.
"I think it’s reassuring that, here I am, a single parent, at the age of 47, with the greatest success of my career. I find it odd and quite funny, and I’m actually quite glad," she told The Times of London. "People have gone, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it have been nicer if it had happened younger?’ No! I think, in terms of suddenly your career going into warp speed, I can see why younger people lose their s**t. Whereas me, yes, it’s amazing, but I’ve still got to spin the plates of life with my daughter. By 47, you kind of are who you are. I don’t need any new friends. I’ve got my clan."
Have we missed out something interesting about Hannah Waddingham?
