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 in Ted Lasso, and has also starred in the hit shows Game of Thrones and Sex Education.
She just hosted the Olivier Awards this month and will now 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 that her dedication to reaching the top came from a hunger to prove herself.
The mother-of-one began her career on stage in 1998, performing in a number of West End shows and being nominated twice for an Olivier Award.
Hannah Waddingham has opened up about her journey to stardom, explaining all she wanted was a chance to show what she could do (pictured winning 2021 Emmy)
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 hunger to prove herself (pictured Tuesday)
However, she said that when she wanted to make the transition to the screen, she struggled with being “steeped in buckets of imposter syndrome.”
Speak with The mirrorshe said she was ‘desperate’ to be taken seriously as an actress and to be 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 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 poking around for a while – can I please have something that shows everything that I think I’m capable of ? by?”
“And then having the opportunity to not have to show everything really quickly, like in a scene or in an episode or whatever… that was the most satisfying thing for me. No fame, no money. But the real thing about being taken seriously on screen was what I just desperately wanted.”
She added: “I had spoken to my agent a while before and said, ‘I feel like I’ve earned my stripes. I don’t want to constantly feed other people’s storylines. 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 worth. There is a line between arrogance and knowing your worth. And I had found my worth and thought, “No, I can fucking do this, thank you very much. Just give me a chance.”
Her confession comes after Hannah reflected on how she landed the lead role of Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso and her close friendship with costar, Jason Sudeikis.
The mother-of-one began her career on stage in 1998, performing in a number of West End shows and being nominated twice for an Olivier Award (pictured in The Wizard of Oz in 2011).
However, she said that when she wanted to make the transition to film, she struggled with being “steeped in bucketloads 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 world’s biggest shows, Game of Thrones in 2015 (pictured)
Her confession comes after Hannah reflected on how she landed the lead role 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 ended last year after three seasons.
Host Willie Geist explained that he had previously heard Jason, 48, say he had a “vision” in his head about who would play the character.
After some chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed he knew Hannah was the one for the role from the moment she walked through the door.
She recalled, “I felt that. It made me very emotional when I heard him say that, because he doesn’t just give compliments.’
She continued, “He’s very special to me in the sense that someone sees something in me. If someone sees something in you… you don’t want to disappoint them.’
The mother of one also recalled her boyfriend saying that when they met, he “got to see Rebecca first” and later “got to get to know Hannah.”
She enthused: ‘That was just beautiful. I always tell him, I’ve never worked so hard to hear someone say “mm-hmm” from behind their mustache.
‘Just that ‘uh-huh’. It doesn’t matter who else is there. It didn’t really matter who was in charge.’
She went on to say that Jason considers the hugely popular TV show his “baby” and that their entire cast was “spoiled senseless” by the talent in the writers’ room, including Brendan Hunt, Brett Goldstein and Phoebe Walsh.
During the filming of their third and final season, Hannah added that she would ask Jason to 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 ended last year after three seasons
After some chemistry tests with other actresses, Jason claimed he knew Hannah was the one for the role from the moment she walked through the door (pictured together on the show)
The mother-of-one also recalled her boyfriend saying that when they met, he “saw Rebecca first” and later “had to get to know Hannah” (pictured together last year)