Hannah Waddingham on the pain (and joy!) she channeled for ‘Ted Lasso’

nypost.com:

bursting onto our TV screens in 2020 as team owner Rebecca Welton on “Ted Lasso,” Hannah Waddingham has been on the fast track to where she should be, which is as many screens and stages as humanly possible.At the moment, though, she’s about to be on Zoom.

Even meeting Waddingham virtually, you have to wonder: Will she be as intimidatingly fabulous as she is on “Lasso”? Her character contains multitudes, her impeccable power outfits armoring a vulnerable heart, but still: The lady is fierce.Waddingham, on the other hand, is as welcoming as Rebecca is guarded. “It looks like I’ve added some kind of lighting effect,” she says, gesturing toward the hint of disco glimmer in the room. “Because I’ve got a lamp with tassels over it.”The British actress is fresh off a gig hosting the Olivier awards — check out the musical opening number on YouTube, and marvel at her singing pipes — and now she’s gearing up to co-host the wildly popular Eurovision Song Contest.

The outfits, she says, are “going to be a little more flamboyant than usual.” This is a woman who knows how to work a costume, whether it’s Rebecca’s cream-colored, form-fitting looks on “Lasso” or a nun’s habit on “Game of Thrones.” Or, most recently, the feather-bedecked period dress of the scheming Lady Bellaston on Masterpiece’s new miniseries adaptation of “Tom Jones.”The 18th-century Henry Fielding novel, known as one of the first literary rom-coms, follows the adventures of a generous, amorous lad and the various women he encounters; Lady Bellaston is an older woman who first seduces Tom, but eventually develops a genuine crush.