‘Ted Lasso’ Star Hannah Waddingham and Her ‘Game of Thrones’ Co-Star Hilariously Recall a Time When a Fan Thought They Were Dating
Hannah Waddingham and Lena Headey first met on the set of Game of Thrones. Playing enemies, their two characters were constantly at a religious divide that eventually ended with Headey’s Cersei walking around naked and Waddingham’s Septa Unella waterboarded.
Their characters hated each other, but there is nothing but love between the women. They have remained friends and even reunited over Zoom to talk about Waddingham’s Emmy nomination for Ted Lasso. In the conversation for Entertainment Weekly, Waddingham revealed that their chemistry is so potent, confused some fans.
Hannah Waddingham and Lena Headey met on ‘Game of Thrones’
Though both women had steady careers in the British acting world, they did not know each other before the show. However, they immediately noticed one another once Waddingham joined the cast as Septa Unella in season 5.
“I think I got the measure of you on our first morning when you turned up looking ridiculously beautiful with a bare face at like 4 AM,” Headey revealed early on in the Entertainment Weekly conversation.
“I think we sat together in makeup that first morning. I just kept looking at you going, ‘Oh, she’s so beautiful,’” she said.
A fan thought Hannah Waddingham Lena Headey were dating
According to Waddingham, the pair were recently stopped at lunch together by a few fans. One fan then reached out to the Ted Lasso actor on Twitter. “One girl went, ‘Thank you for the photo. You guys are so cute. How long have you two been together? I knew it. Wink!’” Waddingham revealed before the pair dissolved into peals of laughter.
“The cat’s out of the bag!” Heady joked. “I think that Septa and Cersei would be quite the hot couple.”
“Do you know what I loved about that?” Waddingham retorted. “I loved the fact she hasn’t said ‘ARE you in a relationship?’ She’s like, ‘Aw, you guys are too cute. I knew it.”
Despite their chemistry, Hannah Waddingham and Lena Heady are not dating
Throughout the interview, it’s clear the two women greatly admire each other. They even have pet names for one another — Waddingham is Fruit Loops, and Headey is Lady Bubbles. At one point, Heady joked that her friend was the “Goddess of my life. My flatmate. My sometimes lover. And always, always my favorite football team manager. I love you. I’m so excited for you and bring [the Emmy] home!”
Waddingham retaliated by singing a song at the end of the interview, expressing her affection for her former co-star. “Flatmate lovers. Yeah. That’s what we are. We shouldn’t be together, but apparently, we are.”
Alas, the two women are only together platonically. Headey was previously married to musician Peter Loughran. Waddingham has appeared on red carpets with hotel manager Gianluca Cugnetto.
Hannah Waddingham and Lena Headey’s ‘Game of Thrones’ characters hated each other
Septa Unella and Cersei Lannister were adversaries from the beginning. After Cersei is arrested for treason, incest, and regicide, Septa Unella became her primary caretaker, trading water for her confession.
When the High Sparrow sentenced Cersei to a naked walk of atonement, Septa Unella stripped off her clothes and cut her hair. The religious zealot then followed the disgraced Queen Mother through the crowded streets of King’s Landing, ringing a bell and yelling “Shame!”
Once Cersei got her power back, she went on a revenge rampage. This included waterboarding the once-powerful religious figure.
