Ted Lasso is back at last for the series’ third season, and AFC Richmond fans are yet again asking themselves that all-important question. No, it’s not whether or not the fictional football club can win its way back into the Premier League this year. It’s just how tall is Hannah Waddingham?
The English actress plays Richmond’s owner, Rebecca Welton, and, as many wrongly suspected, Lasso’s ultimate love interest this season (despite the series’ endless will-they-won’t-they between the characters, Season 3 ended with Rebecca reuniting with her hot, nameless Dutch fling and Ted returning to Kansas City, Missouri, to be back with his son Henry with the potential for a reconciliation with his ex-wife, Michelle). But enough about that. Let’s talk about the real important questions.
How tall is Hannah Waddingham?
Waddingham is definitely a tall drink of water, but she’s not as tall as, say, the U.K.’s other Premier League statuesque beauty, Gwendoline Christie, who towered over her Game of Thrones co-stars at six foot three. Waddingham comes in at five feet ten and three-quarter inches (or one point eight meters if you’re over the pond), making her nearly five inches shorter than Christie.
Is she the tallest member of the “Ted Lasso’ cast?
While Waddingham commands a taller presence than most of her castmates, she’s not quite the tallest; Lasso portrayer Jason Sudeikis is taller at six foot one inch, as is Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard and stands at six foot even. But Waddingham stands over most of the Richmond team, including Brett Goldstein’s Roy Kent and Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt. She also stands taller than onscreen/offscreen BFF Juno Temple by well over half a foot.
What was Waddingham famous for before ‘Ted Lasso’?
Waddingham had a few film and television credits before Ted Lasso. Her most visible role prior to the series was as Septa Unella, aka the “shame” nun who accompanied Cersei Lannister on her painful walk of penitence through King’s Landing in season five of Game of Thrones. However, her real claim to pre-Lasso fame was as a musical theatre performer. She won particular acclaim during her multiple runs as The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot and received an Olivier Award nomination in 2010 for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the Trevor Nunn-directed revival of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.
Waddingham’s film career is on the rise, and fans will be able to see her in three upcoming movies, including the reboots of The Fall Guy and Garfield, as well as the forthcoming second part of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Waddingham also starred in the latest adaptation of Tom Jones as Lady Bellaston.