Hannah Waddingham is a force of nature, whether she’s shining on stage or stunning on screen. An actress for a little over two decades, with her roots in musical theater, Waddingham has done a little bit of everything, but it’s been her Emmy-winning turn as the fierce Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso that has deservingly made hers a household name.
Apart from the Apple TV Plus series, you might have seen the London actress hosting the Eurovision Song Contest, yelling “Shame!” at a naked Cersei in Game of Thrones, or as Jackson’s exigent mother in Sex Education. Waddingham is also a fantastic singer with a four-octave range. Having to narrow it down to 10 was no easy task, but hear me out – these are my favorite of her performances.
10. How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Hannah Waddingham’s very first film was the 2008 British comedy film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, based on the memoir by journalist Toby Young published in 2001. Her role is very short, but the movie is a fun, very English comedy, which offers some nice insight into the media world. It stars Simon Pegg as a version of Young, as well as Megan Fox and Kirsten Dunst.
9. 12 Monkeys
Sci-fi fans might recognize Waddingham from her intimidating performances in Syfy shows 12 Monkeys and Krypton. In the former, which takes from the 1995 Terry Gilliam film of the same title, she played Magdalena – a fanatical follower of the Army of the 12 Monkeys tasked with protecting the future leader of the organization. 12 Monkeys is an underrated series within its genre that ran for four seasons between 2015 and 2018 and has been praised for its gripping narratives and complex lore.
8. Winter Ridge
If there is one thing the English have mastered, it’s the crime thriller. In this intense 2018 serial killer mystery, Waddingham steps into her first big film role as the suspicious psychiatrist to the elderly in a town where they are being targeted and killed. Winter Ridge also stars Matt Hookings, Olwen Catherine Kelly, Michael McKell, and Alan Ford. It premiered at the London Independent Film Festival where it won big, including in the categories Best UK Feature and Best British Film.
7. Benidorm
Hannah Waddingham is an actress with incomparable range. In fact, nothing is clearer evidence of that than the role in which most British audiences probably saw her first – as the knock-out beauty therapist Tonya Dyke in the ITV sit-com Benidorm, who despite seeming chippy and superficial, always puts her children first. Waddingham was a big part of season six of the popular comedy series, but later revealed the uncomfortable situations she went through while playing the character.
6. Krypton
Apart from Ted Lasso, the most time Hannah Waddingham has spent embodying the same character on TV was when she portrayed Jax-Ur/Sela-Sonn in the two seasons of Syfy’s Superman prequel Krypton. Jax-Ur was an important character in the show as the Leader of the Resistance against Daron-Vex’s tight oppressive rule over Kandor City. Although the show wasn’t as well received as 12 Monkeys, for example, it did give Waddingham a chance to flex her acting muscles in a way that no other character bar Lasso‘s Rebecca has.
5. Tom Jones
This four-episode-long mini-series — based on the 1749 novel by Henry Fielding — is one of Waddingham’s post-Ted Lasso projects, where she plays the two-faced Lady Bellaston. In the vein of Bridgerton, Hamilton, The Personal History of David Copperfield, and others, Tom Jones is an attempt to modernize a period piece through a lighter comedic tone and colorblind casting. Although the show hasn’t enjoyed the greatest reviews, Waddingham is lauded an absolute scene-stealer and, for some, the most enjoyable part about it.
4. Hocus Pocus 2
From playing the Witch in Into The Woods on London’s West End to joining the cast of the Hocus Pocus sequel in 2022 – Hannah Waddingham’s career has come full circle. This fun part for the star in Disney’s long-awaited sequel is exemplary of her career’s upward streak ever since joining the Ted Lasso cast, which has allowed her to jump into high-profile franchises of this kind (Marvel next?). Her character — Mother Witch — might only be in Hocus Pocus 2 for one scene, but her pep talk to the Sanderson sisters is a true gem and she looks amazing in the role.
3. Game of Thrones
Before being known to all as Ted Lasso‘s Rebecca Welton, Hannah Waddingham was Game of Thrones‘ Shame Nun, aka Unella, a Septa of the Faith of the Seven. She was mostly around during seasons 5 and 6, with her most memorable scene being Cersei’s walk of atonement. Waddingham did her own stunts in the series, including the grueling torture Unella is subjected to by Cersei as revenge. She called it “the worst day of her life,” second only to childbirth, after being strapped to a wooden table for ten hours while Lena Headey poured wine onto her face.
2. Sex Education
Sex Education is easily one of Netflix’s best original shows. We’re sure the creators of the show are now looking back and kicking themselves that they didn’t utilize Waddingham’s talent to its full potential as Sofia Marchetti, Jackson’s mom. Don’t get us wrong, she’s great in the part, continuing the trend of being a professional scene-stealer in everything she joins, but now that we have seen her really spread her wings in Ted Lasso, we just know she’d completely nail a bigger roll in the tremendous British dramedy.
1. Ted Lasso
Okay, we know we’ve mentioned Ted Lasso about a million times in this article already – but it’s really just that good, and a lot of that is due to Hannah Waddingham’s spellbinding performance as Rebecca Welton. Her on-screen chemistry with Lasso co-creator Jason Sudeikis, as well as Juno Temple, who plays Rebecca’s best friend Keeley, is simply fantastic. Besides the great performances, the show’s writing brings a lot of fresh emotions and uncomfortable — yet necessary — feelings to the comedy genre, and will certainly be remembered as one of the fundamental series of the early 2020s.