Hannah Waddingham recently appeared on an episode of the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist podcast. Hannah was there to promote The Fall Guy, and they talk a bit about her time filming the movie. They also chatted about how different it was being a leading lady on Broadway vs. the West End, friendship with Clay Aiken, Ted Lasso, growing up in an opera house, and more. At one point, the conversation moves into Hannah’s transition from stage to screen. Just before booking Game of Thrones, she had made a decision to not accept any roles that weren’t principal roles, a risk she could take because she already had a very well-established career on stage. She was actually convinced after auditioning for GOT that she was not going to get cast and is grateful to the showrunners for taking a chance on her. She also keeps a little mental list of the producers who weren’t kind to her in those early days and takes pleasure in refusing to work with them now.
Hannah Waddingham wants nothing to do with the people who rejected her as she tried to break into movies and TV. The Ted Lasso star, 49, revealed on a recent episode of the podcast “Sunday Sitdown With Willie Geist” that she keeps a mental roster of names.
“Yes, there is a little list of people who wouldn’t give me the time of day but now want to work together,” Waddingham said. “And I am happy to say to them: ‘Please look somewhere else. I’m human. I remember. Bog off.’”
While her Hollywood career has taken off, the road to screen stardom was not easy. Earlier this year, she recalled to the “Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakers” podcast, “I had one drama teacher that said to the whole class: ‘Oh, Hannah will never work on screen because she looks like one side of her face has had a stroke.’” Motivated to prove this teacher wrong, she thought, “Come hell or high water, I will work on screen.”
Waddingham, a theater veteran, graced the stages of Broadway and London’s West End, earning acclaim for her work in Spamalot and A Little Night Music, among other shows. At the same time, she made minor appearances on TV.
“It got to the point where I realized I was only getting one scene in this, or one ep[isode] in that,” she said. “And I went, do you know what? I think I’ve done enough. … This isn’t cool any more. Why should I be constantly feeding into someone else’s storyline?”
She told her agents, “If it’s one scene, I’m not doing it any more, and you shouldn’t be putting me up for it because it’s insulting. I’ve been a leading lady for 22 years. I’m not doing it any more. I’d rather be in a world where I’m appreciated.”
When she stepped back, she was cast as Septa Unella in seasons 5 and 6 of the HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones.
I mean, as we established after Hannah told off a photographer at the Olivier Awards for making a sexist comment to her, she is Mother. Getting the chance to say, “Nah, I’m good” to someone who blew you off when you had no power must feel so good. It’s giving major boss ass bitch energy. I just love how confident and funny she is. Hannah also spoke her mind about something else during the pod, and that’s that she really wants to do SNL. She even puts out a “subtle hint” to the powers that be at 30 Rock. It’s so awesome how she just puts it right out there. Someone needs to make that happen. The entire interview is a good listen because she gets into a good bit of detail on her career in general. You can listen to it here.
Photos credit: Julie Edwards/Jeffrey Mayer/Avalon and Getty
Fame comes and goes and she may want to revise her list. Better yet, toss it out the window.
I agree, it’s very petty and juvenile. Sure it hurts when establishing a career that is built on rejection, however a realist would understand that you can’t become Judy Dench in a year or two.
Not petty at all! Bet she’s a Scorpio…..we never forget any slight 😈
If Waddington got unprofessional rejections and criticism, I don’t blame her for keeping a list. I’ve always had problems with “forgive and forget” for this very reason. Why help the people who didn’t think you were talented or put you down for no good reason? Keeping track winnows out the weasels and scumbags.
Auditions are rarely ‘nice’ and thousands of actors face rejection and criticism everyday. She’s now using her power against others the same way they used theirs against her. That’s Hollywood.
I can’t tell whether it’s simply people who didn’t hire her, or if it’s people who were unkind (ie unnecessarily dismissive or rude, etc)
If it’s the latter, I’m okay with it. If more people had a “I don’t tolerate or support assholes” approach, the world would be a better place
I’m sure it’s the latter. I doubt it’s one of those “he didn’t give me the part so I hate him!” deals – she’s smarter than that. At least I hope so.
I would think it’s the latter, she’s been around long enough to know no actor is right for every role and not being hired isn’t a personal slight. This sounds more personal, like the teacher who insulted her.
She’s fantastic.
What I understood from Hannah’s remarks is that she’s been told from the beginning by certain people that she doesn’t have what it takes to make it as (an onscreen) actress. Her acting teacher was clearly incredibly unkind. She’s since become successful onstage and in small roles—after this HW felt she had proven her worth and clarified how she wanted to work going forward. From this, my understanding would be that whoever is on that list was unkind to her. Well done for sticking up for herself!
I am absolutely here for someone talking about setting boundaries in their life, how often are women in particular told to just suck it up and play nice? Go Hannah.
She also mentions ‘a little list’ so it’s not like she’s keeping an encyclopaedia of anyone who ever gave her a funny look. It sounds like a small number of people who hurt her and she’s not about to help them be successful now that she’s hot property.
Do go and see her in The Fall Guy.
I think, it depends on the type of rejection. We don’t know what happened exactly in those circumstances, so it is hard to judge. For example, Charlize Theoron told that she went to a producer’s house for an audition when she was very young and got propositioned by him and his girlfriend. She left and after getting big in Hollywood, she went to a business meeting with that guy just to tell him to f*ck off. If Hannah felt like she wasn’t treated fairly by those people, it is expected that she would hold a grudge and don’t want to work with them now that she is big enough.
Her body looks BANGING in that black dress in the last photo. Wowzers.
I love her and I love this sort of tea. I will sip it with my Milano cookie!
“Grateful to the show runners for taking a chance on her”!! She is an experienced established actress. They wouldn’t have asked her to audition if they weren’t serious about hiring her. She is selling herself short! Love her.
She’s so good in Fall Guy and clearly having a great time with that villainess role. The whole movie is so well cast – everyone’s chemistry is off the charts.
I am here for this energy. Good for her.
Hannah, you’re talented, no doubt; but tell me: How about that guy called Prince of Wales, William? Where’s your principles?