Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham recently spoke about the early years of her career when she would “literally take anything” to get on-screen roles.
The Emmy Award-winning actress told BBC Radio 2 podcast Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakers that she felt galvanized by the comments a former teacher had made when she was in school.
“I had one drama teacher that said to the whole class: ‘Oh, Hannah will never work on screen because she looks like one side of her face has had a stroke,’” she said. “I thought, I will do. Come hell or high water, I will work on screen.”
The actress admitted their comment “gave [her] a complex for years,” adding that the teacher had to have known the comment was not “helpful or positive or aspirational.”
Waddingham instead forged a successful career in the West End and on Broadway, while landing successful television roles on Game of Thrones, Sex Education, and Ted Lasso.
“I used to knacker myself senseless,” she said. “I used to be doing a [theatre] show at night and I used to literally take anything to get myself on screen.”
After a while, she realized she wanted more from her career in television and demanded more than just guest appearances.
“So I said to my agents at the time, ‘I’m not doing it any more… If it’s one scene, I’m not doing it any more, and you shouldn’t be putting me up for it because it’s insulting.’” she recalled. “I’ve been a leading lady for 22 years. I’m not doing it any more. I’d rather be in a world where I’m appreciated.”
She continued, “So I fully stepped back. And then Game of Thrones happened.”
Waddingham went on to win an Emmy Award, a SAG award, and a Critics’ Choice Award for her performance in Ted Lasso.
The actress added that she used her Emmy acceptance speech to speak out for other theater actors looking to break into on-screen roles.
“This is why, in my Emmys speech, I made a point – the one thing I said to myself [was], if this weird moment comes and I get this award, and I get my foot in this door, I’m going to rip it off its hinges for music theatre people, or theatre people, to follow,” she said.
