Hannah Waddingham Turns Down People Who Are 'Now Suddenly' Interested in Working With Her: 'We Remember'

The actress felt "very indoctrinated to stay in my lane" as a theater actor in the West End despite her interest in screen acting

Hannah Waddingham has had a whirlwind few years since Ted Lasso, but her transition from the stage to the screen was not without its challenges.

The actress, 49, has been vocal about her desire for theater actors like herself to be given more opportunities. She even pleaded during her 2021 Emmys acceptance speech to hire more "West End musical performers," saying, "We won't let you down."

Before her roles on shows like Game of Thrones and Ted Lasso, Waddingham felt she had been "very much indoctrinated to stay in my lane," as in, to remain a theater actor rather than crossing over into screen acting.

"I’d had 10 years of being a leading lady in the West End and it really got the bit between my teeth — that there was… TV and film people could come into theater…but going back that way didn’t happen," she recalled on an episode of the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist podcast.

Related: Hannah Waddingham Says Filming Game of Thrones Scene Where She Was 'Actually Waterboarded' Led to Claustrophobia

While Waddingham saw in the U.S. that "people would ebb and flow in and out of the two different mediums and be respected for it," in the U.K., the reaction was, "Well, hold on, are you this or are you that?"

“There was kind of a feeling at the time of being greedy, and I thought, ‘Well, no, if they can do it, why can’t I do it?’ It’s not a question of being arrogant about your ability," she said. "I knew that it was time for me to have a little stretch…somewhere else."

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When it came to her casting as Rebecca Welton on Jason Sudeikis' hit Apple TV+ series, she revealed there were "just a couple of people that were unsure" about whether she was the right fit for the role "because I was less known."

The echoes of those struggles continue to influence the career moves Waddingham makes now.

“I’m not going to lie, there are a few producers that are now suddenly like: ‘Is there a book you want to develop or…’ and I’m just like: ‘No, you’re alright.’ Just look somewhere else," she told Willie Geist. "Because we’re human and we remember, so no. Bog off!”

Related: Hannah Waddingham Says There's No Way Her 50th Birthday Will Top Turning 40 (Exclusive)

The actress has previously shared that another memorable moment from her youth has a similar effect on her even now.

"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,'" she recalled on Michelle Visage's Rule Breakers podcast in January. "I thought, 'I will do. Come hell or high water, I will work on-screen.'"

Waddingham admitted that her teacher's comments "gave me a complex for years," and even influenced her 2021 Emmys speech.

"In my Emmys speech, I made a point," she explained. "The one thing I said to myself [was], if this weird moment comes and I get this award, and I get my foot in this door, I'm going to rip it off its hinges for musical theater people, or theater people, to follow."

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