‘The View’: Hannah Waddingham Says Working With Jason Sudeikis on ‘Ted Lasso’ Was “Completely Unique” Because He Didn’t Care That She Was Taller Than Him

Hannah Waddingham — who has starred on hit shows like Game of Thrones and Sex Education — opened up about why working on the beloved Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso was a “completely unique” experience for her.

The actress appeared alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin on this morning’s episode of The View, where she reflected on joining Ted Lasso — which recently aired its series finale.

(Editor’s Note: The View is currently on hiatus; this article was originally published on June 15, 2023, when this episode originally aired.)

“Being a woman who’s not small — very tall — I had always struggled,” Waddingham, who is 5’11, told the panel. “The amount of times they’d be like, ‘We’ve already cast a guy who’s 5’7.’ Whereas when I went into this, Jason [Sudeikis] was like, ‘I don’t care if she wears four-inch heels. Let’s do it.'”

She added, “That is a completely unique situation to find yourself in — where the man is so generous that they want to raise you up and celebrate everything that you are and not that you’re, like, some skinny-mini.”

Waddingham starred alongside Sudeikis as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton throughout the show’s three seasons. She explained that she was 45 years old when they started shooting in 2020.

“It’s so nice when I first joined — I was 45 when we started shooting which in itself is fabulous and unusual [which is] ridiculous that it’s so unusual — the fact that [Sudeikis] was just like, ‘No, I don’t care that she’s taller than me,'” she said.

When asked what made the show such a hit, the star credited its success to the “best writing” and the “best people for the job.”

“I love the fact that they didn’t just go for what I call ‘the famouses,'” she said. “They had the star power of Sudeikis so it meant they had the luxury of going, ‘Yeah, but who is just right for every single one of these parts?'”

Waddingham described the on-set environment as having “no hierarchy” — just a “crazy mess of people all just gently crying over each other.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC. Plus, you can stream Ted Lasso on Apple TV+.