Since reaching worldwide stardom as headstrong football team owner Rebecca Welton on “Ted Lasso,” Hannah Waddingham has been sought after for many different projects. But, she says, she’s willing to play Rebecca on the series until the end of time.
Although the show garnered a whopping 20 Emmy nominations for Season 2 last year, creator and star Jason Sudeikis has said Season 3, which debuts on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, will likely be the last.
The Emmy-winning Waddingham told CNN in a recent interview that she “loves” Rebecca, and “my God, I would literally [keep going].”
Playing a person who appears powerful but feels vulnerable is universal, Waddingham said.
“Because we have that in all of us. I know I certainly do,” she saod. “I’m quite an open book and the reason why I identified with her and had such an affinity with her in the first place, and I’ve been very vocal about this, I had been in a verbally abusive relationship, which people wouldn’t think that I would have looking at me. So I already had a shorthand into who she was and how beautifully they write it. And, certainly Season 3, I love that we get back to slightly lost Rebecca.”
Viewers will learn more about Rebecca’s background in coming episodes, Waddingham revealed. Her character’s love life has been a theme on the show, but she said she does not want Rebecca to end up with Ted, as some viewers have wished.
“[Jason Sudeikis] and I have always been quite shocked that everyone’s so obsessed with [our characters] as a romantic, sexual relationship,” she said. “It speaks more about social conditioning, presuming that if two people get on with each other and are looking out for each other, that immediately will then bleed into a romantic sexual relationship. There’s more longevity in these two souls having each other in each other’s pocket.”
