Hannah Waddingham, 5ft11, was told she was 'too big' to be on camera and says Ted Lasso co-stars told her take her heels off when filming together
has revealed she was told she was 'too big' to appear on camera.
The 5ft 11in actress claimed that she was turned away from roles due to her model stature, saying the general sentiment was 'you'll be too big on camera so stay in your lane'.
Hannah revealed that this wasn't an issue when it came to working with Jason Sudeikis, the 6ft 1in creator and star of Ted Lasso, who was happy for her to wear heels and be taller than him on screen.
However, Hannah confessed that there were several men who asked her to remove her heels when filming.
She recalled in an interview with The Sunday Times: 'I even had a couple of day players [actors on set briefly] in Ted Lasso going, "Is it all right if she doesn't wear shoes in this scene?" The heels stayed on.'
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Hannah - who previously worked as a plus-size model - also revealed that her confidence to get into acting was knocked when a drama teacher at her college told her that she wouldn't work much because it 'looks like one side of her face has had a stroke'.
The striking actress once revealed a casting director branded her a 'lanky freak' during the early stages of her career.
However, today London-born Hannah is world's away from receiving negative remarks about her appearance, with fans marvelling over her beauty on social media.
Born and raised in southwest London, Hannah attended private girls' school Streatham and Clapham High School before going on to study at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.
Following her graduation, Hannah - who is the daughter of opera singer Melodie Kelly - concentrated on making it as a theatre actress.
One of her first jobs was in the interactive dinner show Joni and Gina's Wedding - where audience members take on the role of wedding guests and are invited to engage with actors.
In 2000, Hannah released the single Our Kind of Love - which was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his musical The Beautiful Game - to commemorate the composer's 50th birthday.
In 2002, she went on to appear in a production of Space Family Robinson before going on to star as Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, which earned her an Olivier Award nod.
The show, which was both a West End and Broadway hit, went on to be nominated for seven Laurence Olivier awards in 2012.
Alongside her West End work, Hannah began auditioning for more and more TV and film roles - having made her big screen debut in 2008's How To Lose Friends and Alienate People.
In 2014, Hannah was cast as Tonya Dyke in the hit ITV series Benidorm before hitting the big-time in 2016 when she was cast as Septa Unella in the fifth season of Game of Thrones.
The role put Hannah on the Hollywood map - leading her to then be cast as Jackson's mother Sofia in the hit Netflix series Sex Education in 2019.
Two years later, Hannah's career reached all new heights when she bagged a starring role as warm-yet-icy football club owner Rebecca Welton in Apple TV+'s Ted Lasso.
Hannah's latest roles have seen her star in Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning and Lilo & Stich.
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