Hannah Waddingham opened up about her journey to stardom and explained 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 in Ted Lasso, as well as starring in the hit shows Game of Thrones and Sex Education.
Fresh from hosting the Olivier Awards this month, she will now star alongside 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 that her dedication to reaching the top came from a thirst to prove herself.
The mother-of-one began her career on stage in 1998, performing in several West End shows and being nominated for an Olivier Award twice.
Hannah Waddingham opened up about her journey to stardom, explaining that all she wanted was a chance to show what she could do (pictured winning an Emmy in 2021).
The actress has achieved incredible success, winning an Emmy and two Critics Choice Awards for her role in Ted Lasso (pictured), as well as starring in the hit shows Game of Thrones and Sex Education.
However, Hannah has said she was never motivated by fame or fortune and that her dedication to reaching the top came from a thirst to prove herself (pictured on Tuesday).
However, she said that when she wanted to transition to the screen she struggled with being “soaked in buckets of imposter syndrome.”
speaking to MirrorShe said she was “desperate” to be taken seriously as an actress and given “a chance.”
After a series of small roles in My Family, Benidorm and Bad Education, Hannah landed the role of Septa Unella, in one of the biggest shows in the world, Game of Thrones in 2015.
Hannah recalled: “I’m a big believer in manifesting and I said, ‘Look, I think I’ve been hanging around for a while. Can I please have something that shows everything I feel I am capable of?”
‘And then being able to have the opportunity to not have to show everything very quickly, like within a scene or within an episode or whatever… that’s the part I found most satisfying. Neither fame nor money. But what I really wanted was to be taken seriously on screen.”
He added: “I spoke to my agent a while ago and I said, ‘I feel like I’ve earned my stripes. I don’t want to be constantly feeding other people’s stories all the time. I’ve had enough of that.”
‘And it has nothing to do with fame or money: you don’t start in theater for fame or money. It has to do with knowing your value. There is that line between arrogance and knowing your worth. And I found my courage and thought, “No, I can do this, thank you very much. Just give me a chance.”
Her admission comes after Hannah recalled how she landed the lead role of Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso and her close friendship with co-star Jason Sudeikis.
The mother-of-one began her career on stage in 1998, performing in several West End shows and being nominated twice for the Olivier Award (pictured in The Wizard of Oz in 2011).
However, she said that when she wanted to transition to the screen she struggled with being “soaked in buckets of imposter syndrome” and was “desperate” to be taken seriously as an actress (pictured in 2011).
After a series of small roles in My Family, Benidorm and Bad Education, Hannah landed the role of Septa Unella, in one of the biggest shows in the world, Game of Thrones in 2015 (pictured).
Her admission comes after Hannah recalled how she landed the lead role of Rebecca Welton (pictured) in Ted Lasso and her close friendship with co-star Jason Sudeikis.
In an interview in TODAY Last weekend, Hannah reflected on the popular sitcom, which came to an end last year after three seasons.
Host Willie Geist explained that he previously heard that Jason, 48, said he had a “vision” in mind about who would play the character.
After a series of chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed that he knew Hannah was right for the role from the moment she walked in the door.
She recalled: ‘I felt that. “I was very excited 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 someone sees something in you… you don’t want to let that person down.’
The mother of one also recalled her friend saying that when they met, he first “saw Rebecca” and then had to “meet Hannah.”
She raved: ‘That was just wonderful. I always tell him, I’ve never tried so hard to hear someone, behind the mustache, say “mm-hmm.”
‘Just that “aha”. It doesn’t matter who else is there. It didn’t matter who was directing.”
He went on to say that Jason considers the popular TV show his ‘baby’ and that the entire cast was ‘spoiled senseless’ by the talent in the writers’ room, which included Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein and Phoebe Walsh.
While filming their third and final season, Hannah added that she would request that Jason be present because she “wanted to get the ending right with him.”
In an interview on TODAY last weekend, Hannah reflected on the popular sitcom, which came to an end last year after three seasons.
After a series of chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed that he knew Hannah was right for the role from the moment she walked in the door (pictured together on the show).
The mother of one also recalled her friend saying that when they met, he first “saw Rebecca” and then had to “meet Hannah” (pictured together last year).
