How Tall Is Hannah Waddingham?
Even folks who don't have Apple TV+ are probably familiar with Hannah Waddingham, the tall, blonde bombshell who plays Rebecca Welton on the streamer's massive hit "Ted Lasso." The series follows an American football coach from Kansas, played by Jason Sudeikis (also from Kansas), who goes to the United Kingdom to coach a down-on-its-luck team in "European football" — aka soccer, a sport he doesn't actually know anything about. But the coach wins everyone over, including the steely Rebecca, with his kind and forgiving nature in the most optimistic show to hit the airwaves in years.
The popular and wonderful series won a slew of awards at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 19, including statues for editing, sound mixing, and Outstanding Comedy Series, as well as acting accolades. Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent, won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and both Sudeikis and Waddingham won for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively.
While Waddingham accepted her award and was surrounded by her cast and other colleagues, viewers couldn't help but wonder how tall the statuesque beauty is. We've got your answer.
Hannah Waddingham's height helped her stand out on stage
Hannah Waddingham made waves among American audiences with her starring role in "Ted Lasso," but she is much more known in her home country. The British actor and singer is a veteran of the stage, where having a few extra inches of height is surely a boon. According to Broadway World, Waddingham performed in musical theatre productions like "Kiss Me, Kate," "Into the Woods," and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Likes of Us." She originated the role of the Lady of the Lake in the West End production of "Spamalot," a role she also reprised on Broadway, and she starred as Desirée Armfelt in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed revival of Stephen Sondheim's "A Little Night Music," earning Olivier Award nominations for each. In her Emmy Award speech, she showed love to her fellow stage actors: "West End musical theatre performers need to be onscreen more. Please give them a chance, because we won't let you down."
So just how tall is she? According to her IMDb page, Waddingham is 5 foot, 10 and 3/4 inches — the same height as costar Brett Goldstein. That is tall, yet her appearance is slightly misleading on "Ted Lasso": Jason Sudeikis is 6 feet, 3/4 inches, yet Rebecca often appears to tower over Ted. High heels will do that, and she appeared at the Emmys to be the same height as Allison Janney, who is also six feet. It's also an awesome choice for the role of the strong yet vulnerable woman in a man's world.
Fans love that Hannah Waddingham is so tall
Although her turn in "Ted Lasso" is probably her best-known role so far, Hannah Waddingham has popped up in a number of other famous places. Her IMDb page has an impressive number of credits before "Ted Lasso," including the British series "Coupling" and "My Family," and the 2012 film version of "Les Misérables." She'll appear in the forthcoming PBS Masterpiece adaptation "Tom Jones." Some Americans may also recognize Waddingham as Jackson's mom Sofia Marchetti in Netflix's "Sex Education." If you're really savvy, you'll see her face under the wimple as Septa Unella in Season 5 of "Game of Thrones," as she rings the "shame bell" behind a naked Cersei Lannister.
Acting skills aside, Waddingham's height is also winning her plenty of fans, especially in her role as Rebecca Welton. "As a tall woman, I love every tall woman, including Hannah Waddingham," one Twitter user wrote. Another user made an important point: "It's been so refreshing to see Hannah Waddingham so unapologetically tall, loud, and expressive. Women are so rarely celebrated being all three." A Redditer also celebrated how Rebecca "isn't afraid or ashamed to wear heels," especially in a male-dominated industry. "So many tall women rarely, if ever, wear heels, particularly if it makes them taller than the surrounding men." Another responded saying, "[Rebecca] doesn't slouch or apologize for her towering height and it's given me so much confidence!"