VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Hannah Waddingham Reveals How Jason Sudeikis Made Her Laugh On ‘Ted Lasso’

Hannah Waddingham revealed how Jason Sudeikis made her laugh on the new series Ted Lasso.

The Apple TV Plus show follows a college-level American football coach (Sudeikis) who is hired to coach a British soccer team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience coaching soccer. Waddingham plays Rebecca Welton, the ex-wife of the team’s owner, who has won control over the team in the divorce.

“In the divorce settlement she went after the football club, people think it’s to make it great,” Waddingham told uInterview’s Erik Meers. “She brings over this hick Ted Lasso who’s only had any kind of coaching success at the college level, and people think she’s brought him over to make Richmond great, but what she’s actually done is brought him over to burn to the ground the only thing that her husband ever cared about, which is this football club.”

The actress gushed over her costar. “There were plenty of pinch-me moments because I’ve been a fan of his for years, so once I got myself over that thing of thinking ‘stop watching him like an audience member,’ and actually be in the scene with him,” she said.

“In the scenes where Ted and Rebecca really engage and Jason knew how to push my buttons of getting me to where I needed to be emotionally, and so I felt a real privilege being with clearly a fellow actor, not just a film star, who wanted the best out of his costars.”

Part of the charm of their character’s relationship comes from the cultural divide between Ted and Rebecca. “When I was living and working in New York,” the English actress stated, “I was really struck by how we may speak the same language in theory, but we really don’t. There are some things that are the same, but there are some things that are widely different, so it’s fun playing all of that.”

Waddington said that on a “basic level,” she based her character off of real-life British sports executive Karren Brady. “She doesn’t try to use her sexuality or her femininity to get herself any further, but she also doesn’t let you forget it. And whenever I see her in the interview, she doesn’t become this kind of androgynous force, she’s a charismatic and vulnerable woman, and let you see all of it. And on top of that is hugely successful.”

You can catch Season 1 of Ted Lasso streaming now on Apple TV Plus. Check out the trailer below: