How Hannah Waddingham grew to become the mid-life poster woman – as followers marvel at her ‘magnificence’ and declare ‘nobody is doing it like Hannah’

She once revealed a casting director branded her a ‘lanky freak’ during the early stages her career.

However, today London-born Hannah Waddingham, 50, is world’s away from receiving negative remarks about her appearance, with fans marvelling over her beauty on social media.

Talking on the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist, Hannah told how the director’s remarks weren’t the sole slur she’s received about her looks, with her recalling her drama teacher saying: ‘Oh Hannah will never work on screen because she looks like one side of her face had a stroke.’

The actress told the host: ‘Yes, there is a little list of people who wouldn’t give me the time of day but now want to work together, and I am happy to say to them, ”please look somewhere else, I’m human, I remember, bog off”.’

In the time since then, Hannah found fame in West End musicals before catapulting to superstardom on Apple TV’s Ted Lasso – a show about an American football coach managing a British team.

And last year, she cemented herself as a national treasure, having hosted Eurovision Song Contest and later becoming the face of M&S‘s Christmas advert.

On top of the exposure M&S’s ad campaign granted, Hannah also gained approval from high society when she joined the Prince of Wales to host last year’s Earthshot Prize.

Now, fans have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to rave about Hannah as a poster girl for middle aged women, with one dubbing her an ‘absolute stunner’.

Meanwhile, another posted: ‘Hannah Waddingham is in a league of her own. Keep slaying, Hannah’. Another chimed into the debate, saying: ‘She’s like the ultimate performer. I can’t even imagine anyone else pulling off what she does!’

‘Lord please let me age like this woman,’ a fourth wrote underneath a photograph of the actress.

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.

Later that year, Hannah starred in a production of Kiss Me, Kate and was nominated for her third Olivier.

Alongside her growing stage presence, Hannah also started 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.

At the time, Hannah’s daughter Kitty – whom she shares with hotelier Gianluca Cugnetto – had recently been diagnosed Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP).

After receiving the terrifying call while filming the Warner Bros series Krypton in Belfast, Hannah wasn’t sure how she would be able to continue working.

HSP, an autoimmune disorder, is a condition that involves swelling of small blood vessels, often affecting children between ages two and six. In most cases, children will make a full recovery, but can be left with kidney problems.

Finding herself unable to fly home from Belfast, while her daughter lay in a hospital bed with ‘giraffe splats of brown’ across her, that turned out to be ‘capillaries bursting over her little leggies’ the actress vowed to make a change.

After finally getting to see her daughter the following day, Waddingham informed her management in both the UK and LA that she could no longer be away from her child.

‘I am first and foremost a mum, and more importantly a single mum,’ she told her agents over a conference call.

Recounting the story in the US while appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year, the star revealed how she then ‘asked the universe’ for a dream role that would enable her to be close to her daughter.

‘I’m going to ask the universe for something, which is probably unreasonable but, I’m going to say, “Thank you for making my little girl better,” she told Ellen.

‘Can I thank you for what you’ve given me already, but can I just ask you for something that is close to home so I can do my main role, which is to be mama. And also can I ask that it’s something that really shows what I can do [as an actress]. And I hope that’s not asking too much.”‘

Waddingham ended the moving story by revealing that it was just ‘two months later this meeting came up’ for the Ted Lasso role, which is just a half hour drive from her home.

Since finding success in the role, Hannah has become a familiar face at awards shows, with her appearances giving the public glimpses of her personality. 

In May, she left the BAFTA TV Awards viewers in hysterics with a meme-worthy moment, after missing out on the Entertainment prize. 

The Ted Lasso star had been nominated for her festive Apple TV+ special Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, but lost out to BBC favourite Strictly Come Dancing.

Following the loss, cameras caught Hannah drinking from a hip flask attached to her bracelet, sparking a flurry of reaction from fans watching the ceremony unfold.

Luckily the night ended on a happier note for Hannah, as she took to the stage to accept the prize for Live Event Coverage, for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

One month later, Hannah once again proved her endearing personality when she made a cheeky quip to Prince William during an Earthshot Prize panel session in London, which left the future King in a fit of laughter.

The Ted Lasso star was leading the discussion with CEO Hannah Jones, trustee Tokunboh Ishmael and Prince William , as they discussed the prestigious environmental award.

As the father-of-three was giving an answer to her question, Waddingham then saw an opportunity to lighten the mood with her quickfire answer.

The Prince of Wales said: ‘I always say to the [team] what’s the next thing? What are we doing? And Hannah [Jones], over the past four years she’s been not only flying the plane, she’s been building it, serving drinks and also providing all the emergency exits and landing it.’ 

However before William could finish his sentence, Waddingham interjected and said: ‘It’s because she’s a woman [sir],’ which was met with a round of applause from the room.

This seemed to tickle the Prince of Wales who then responded: ‘She is,’ before chuckling with the actress. Panellist Tokunboh Ishmael then chimed in and said: ‘She can multitask.’