Hannah Waddingham has opened up about her journey to stardom, explaining that all she wanted was a chance to show what she could do.
The actress has achieved incredible success, winning an Emmy and two Critics Choice Awards for her role on Ted Lasso, as well as starring in hit shows Game of Thrones and Sex Education.
Fresh off hosting the Olivier Awards this month, she is now set to star opposite Ryan Gosling and Tom Cruise in The Fall Guy and the eighth Mission: Impossible film respectively.
However, Hannah has said that she was never motivated by fame or fortune and her dedication to reaching the top stemmed from a thirst to prove herself.
The mother-of-one began her career on the stage in 1998, performing in a number of West End shows and being twice nominated for an Olivier Award.
Hannah Waddingham has opened up about her journey to stardom, explaining that all she wanted was a chance to show what she could do (pictured winning Emmy in 2021)
The actress has achieved incredible success, winning an Emmy and two Critics Choice Awards for her role on Ted Lasso (pictured), as well as starring in hit shows Game of Thrones and Sex Education
However, Hannah has said that she was never motivated by fame or fortune and her dedication to reaching the top stemmed from a thirst to prove herself (pictured on Tuesday)
However, she said when she wanted to make the transition to screen she struggled with being ‘drenched with buckets of imposter syndrome’.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said that she was ‘desperate’ to be taken seriously as an actress and be given ‘a chance’.
After a string of small roles on My Family, Benidorm and Bad Education, Hannah landed the role of Septa Unella, in one of the world’s biggest shows, Game of Thrones in 2015.
Hannah recalled: ‘I’m a big believer in manifestation and I did say, “Look, I think I’ve been knocking about for a while now – can I please have something that will show everything that I feel like I’m capable of?”
‘And then being able to have the chance to not have to show everything very quickly, like within a scene or within an episode or whatever… that’s the bit that I found most satisfying. Not fame, not money. But the actual thing of being taken seriously on screen has been the thing that I was just desperate for.’
She added: ‘I’d spoken to my agent a while before and said, “I feel like I’ve earned my stripes. I don’t want to be constantly feeding into other people’s storylines all the time. I’ve had enough of that.”
‘And it’s nothing to do with fame or money – you don’t start in theatre for fame or money. It’s to do with knowing your worth. There’s that line between arrogance and knowing your worth. And I had found my worth and thought, “No, I can bloody do this, thank you very much. Just give me a chance”.’
Her admission comes after Hannah looked back on how she landed the starring of Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso and her close friendship with costar, Jason Sudeikis.
The mother-of-one began her career on the stage in 1998, performing in a number of West End shows and being twice nominated for an Olivier Award (pictured in The Wizard of Oz in 2011)
However, she said when she wanted to make the transition to screen she struggled with being ‘drenched with buckets of imposter syndrome’ and was ‘desperate’ to be taken seriously as an actress (pictured in 2011)
After a string of small roles on My Family, Benidorm and Bad Education, Hannah landed the role of Septa Unella, in one of the world’s biggest shows, Game of Thrones in 2015 (pictured)
Her admission comes after Hannah looked back on how she landed the starring of Rebecca Welton (pictured) on Ted Lasso and her close friendship with costar, Jason Sudeikis
In an interview on TODAY last weekend, Hannah reflected on the popular comedy, which came to an end last year after three seasons.
Host Willie Geist explained he previously heard that Jason, 48, said he had a ‘vision’ in his mind about who would portray the character.
After a number of chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed that he knew Hannah was the one for the role from the minute she walked through the door.
She recalled: ‘I felt that. It made me very emotional when I heard him say it, because he doesn’t give compliments lightly.’
She continued: ‘He’s very special to me in terms of someone seeing something in me. When somebody sees something in you… you don’t want to let that person down.’
The mother-of-one also recalled her pal saying that when they met, he first ‘saw Rebecca first’ and, later, had to ‘get to know Hannah.’
She raved: ‘That was just gorgeous. I always say to him, I’ve never worked so hard to hear someone, from behind their mustache, go “mm-hmm.”
‘Just that “uh-huh”. It doesn’t matter who else is there. It kinda didn’t matter who was directing.’
She went on say Jason considers the hugely popular TV show his ‘baby’ and that their entire cast was ‘spoiled senseless’ by the talent in the the writers’ room, which included Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein and Phoebe Walsh.
While shooting their third and final season, Hannah added she would request that Jason be around because she ‘wanted to get that ending right with him.’
In an interview on TODAY last weekend, Hannah reflected on the popular comedy, which came to an end last year after three seasons
After a number of chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed that he knew Hannah was the one for the role from the minute she walked through the door (pictured together on show)
The mother-of-one also recalled her pal saying that when they met, he first ‘saw Rebecca first’ and, later, had to ‘get to know Hannah’ (pictured together last year)
