Hannah Waddingham has spoken about finding success later in life and how Jason Sudeikis took a “chance” on her.
The actress was 46 when the A-lister gave her the role of Rebecca Welton in his comedy series.
Since the Apple TV+ show began in 2020 the 49-year-old has gone from strength to strength.
Hannah told The Sun: “It really does feel more special. You know, I’ll be 50 and can celebrate that and the fact that I’ve gone into everything with a full heart and given 100 per cent to it.”
“And I’m glad that it didn’t happen when I was 20, 25, 30, because I know who I am. I don’t apologise for who I am.”
In the show, Hannah’s character Rebecca is the owner of a fictional struggling Premier League football side AFC Richmond, who hires American football coach Ted Lasso to run her losing team.
The actress gushed about Jason Sudeikis and how he “took a chance” on her and changed her life forever.
Hannah who is 5ft 11in, spoke about castings and said: “Being a woman who is not small, I’d always struggled.”
“The amount of times they’d be like, ‘Well, we have cast a guy who is 5ft 7in’, or, ‘We’ve already cast a guy that is this big’. And you are like, ‘OK’.”
However, Ted Lasso co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis didn’t care about that.
Speaking about Ted Lasso, she said: “I was, like 45 when we started shooting, which in itself is fabulous and unusual — it’s ridiculous that it is so unusual.”
“But the fact he was like, ‘I don’t care that she is taller than me’, that is unique — where the man is so generous they want to raise you up and celebrate everything you are, not that you are some skinny mini.”
“Even if you are 6ft 2in in heels you still have every kind of doubtful thought and every vulnerability as much as the next person,” she added.
“It’s been life-changing for me and I have so much to thank Jason for, it’s really just blown the doors open on my career.”
Alongside Ted Lasso, the mother-of-one has also appeared in the comedy-drama series Sex Education and the fantasy drama Game of Thrones.
Hannah was 39 and eight months pregnant when she auditioned for the role of “Shame” in GOT in 2013.
She landed the role of the bell-ringing Septa Unella and played he character in seasons five and six.
Hannah revealed she suffered “horrific anxiety” for leaving her daughter for nine weeks after giving birth, as she had to fly to Croatia for filming.
However, the actress revealed that her now eight-year-old daughter copes very well with her mother’s absence in her daily life during hectic filming times.
She told Michelle Visage’s BBC podcast Rule Breakers: “I said, ‘Baby girl, you have made my day, my week, my month and my year, because you know Mummy struggles being away from you.’
“And she went ‘Yes, but Mummy, you’ve got to go away and do all the things so we can do all our things’.
“And I thought, ‘It’s gone in, it’s gone in’. Isn’t that gorgeous. I’m not going to lie, I lay in the bath and had a big boo-hoo.”
Hannah added: “I just thought, ‘Thank God, I’m blessed that she gets it and she doesn’t just think, ‘Why isn’t Mummy here?’”
