Hannah Waddingham has always been one of the finest talents in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, and her iconic portrayal of Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso further justifies her excellence as an actress. Though she has worked with a lot of major talents over the years, like Tom Cruise, her work on the said comedy drama served as an exceptional experience for her.
To say the least, not only did Waddingham give one of the best performances of her entire career in Jason Sudeikis’ Apple TV’s hit show, earning numerous major awards for the same, but she also found herself being blown away by her co-star and the show’s lead over a major insecurity: Her incredible height, which makes her stand out but also had her long struggling in Hollywood.
Hannah Waddingham has long struggled with insecurity over her height. Over the years, Hannah Waddingham has been nominated for quite a few of her epic performances, but none of them won her as much acclaim and award wins as Ted Lasso did. And, as it turns out, while her performance was one to get her at the receiving end of numerous accolades, the actress also found herself having one of the most notable experiences on set.
For one, while The Fall Guy star is famed for her acting, she also tends to stand out because of her height, which is 1.8 m (aka 5’11”). In fact, as she herself admitted, her height has been one of the factors that have seen Waddingham struggle in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, as usually the actresses cast in roles are expected to be shorter than the male leads.
During an appearance on The View, she came clean about the problems she faced due to her height, saying,
I think being a woman who is not small, very tall, I had always struggled. You know, the amount of times they’d just be like, ‘Well, you know, we’ve already cast a guy who is five-foot-seven,’ or, ‘We’ve already cast a guy that’s this big,’ and you’re like, ‘Okay!’
That said, it’s notable that Waddingham has even worked with numerous actors shorter than her. This includes the likes of Tom Cruise, the 1.7 metres (aka 5’7″) short action king alongside whom she is expected to star in the upcoming Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and who is rather known for exaggerating his height in movies to appear taller.