‘Ted Lasso’: Why Rebecca’s Hannah Waddingham ‘Made a Point of Having No Interest’ in Ted or Nate
Rebecca Welton didn’t care about Jason Sudeikis’ title character in early episodes of Ted Lasso which is why actor Hannah Waddingham kept her distance. She didn’t learn too much about coach Lasso and had “no interest” in Nick Mohammed’s Nathan Shelley.
Hannah Waddingham didn’t know much about Rebecca Welton’s storyline when she signed on for ‘Ted Lasso’
Waddingham, who Ted Lasso viewers might recognize from Game of Thrones, admittedly didn’t know much about Rebecca’s season 1 arc when she joined the cast of the Apple original series.
“I had signed on for it, and I had only ever seen the pilot. So I didn’t know anything about [Rebecca’s ex-husband] Rupert; I knew that she wanted to get back at this guy, but I didn’t know the details,” she told Elle in July 2021. “I didn’t know how deep we would go with that.”
She also wasn’t aware of the friendship between Rebecca and Keeley Jones (Juno Temple).
“I didn’t know anything about her relationship with Keeley, and how important that would become. I didn’t know anything about the best friend showing up, and calling her out on giving up on her goddaughter,” she said. “And I certainly didn’t know about the ramifications of being with a man who had implied that he didn’t want children.”
Despite not knowing the details of Rebecca’s journey through Ted Lasso Season 1 Waddingham knew that her part required knowing as little as possible about other characters.
Hannah Waddingham purposely avoided learning about certain characters, including Ted Lasso and Nathan Shelley
In early episodes of Ted Lasso Rebecca didn’t care about Jason Sudeikis’ title character or anyone else for that matter. Her focus was on destroying AFC Richmond, the one thing Rupert held dear. That’s why Waddingham made a conscious effort to not get attached to other characters.
“I’d heard rumblings about Jason Sudeikis doing these little mini skits. But I purposely didn’t look at them, actually, because I had been sent the sides for Rebecca, and I saw very early on, that I needed to batten down the hatches and not care about Ted,” she said. “I didn’t want to see how charming [he was]. And I actually carried that on right through all the read-throughs and filming. I would just be like, ‘Don’t want to hear about him!’”
Rebecca Waddingham watched ‘Ted Lasso’ and now she loves the character of Nathan Shelley
“I hadn’t let myself look at any of Ted’s stuff,” the actor said. So when she finally got to watch it “as an audience member” she loved getting to know the characters. Take Mohammed’s Nathan.
“Rebecca’s not meant to really give a s— about, or know who, Nate is. So I made a point of having no interest in Nick at all. And then I watched it back, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love Nate the Great,’’ Waddingham said.
See Waddingham in Ted Lasso Season 2 on AppleTV+. A new episode drops every Friday at 12 a.m. CT or 3 a.m. EST.
