Ted Lasso star makes surprising awards campaign decision - The Independent

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Hannah Waddingham has her eye on the prize for the upcoming TV awards season.

The Ted Lasso star, 52, took on a bigger role in season four of the hit Apple TV show, with her character Rebecca Welton launching the fictional AFC Richmond women’s team; a counterpart to the men’s team at the center of the first three seasons.

Now, after being considered a supporting actress for the first three seasons of the series, Waddingham will campaign for the lead actress in a comedy series category at the 2026-2027 Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, according to Deadline.

She has earned three Emmy nominations in the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category during her time on the show, winning the coveted award in 2021. If she scores another Emmy nomination, she will join an impressive list of actors who have been nominated as supporting and lead for the same show, including Allison Janney for The West Wing and Jon Cryer for Two and a Half Men.

Waddingham has also been nominated twice for a Golden Globe award in the supporting TV actress field, which spans series, miniseries and TV movies, and twice for the combined Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series award, which covers lead and supporting performances.

Her co-star Juno Temple, who plays Rebecca’s best friend and AFC Richmond’s PR point person Keeley Jones, will continue to campaign as supporting actress during the season, while Jason Sudeikis will once again be submitted in the lead category for his performance in the titular role.

Waddingham is best known for her intimidating character on Ted Lasso, but she has also starred in Netflix’s Sex Education. Most recently, she played opposite Octavia Spencer in the Amazon Prime series Ride or Die, which was canceled after one season.

Waddingham recently revealed that she was asked to participate in another beloved TV show, but turned it down: The Celebrity Traitors.

The actor admitted on The Jennifer Hudson Show that she declined the chance to join the iconic reality competition because she would rather watch the BBC show than take part in it.

“I was asked to be on the first Celebrity Traitors in the U.K.,” she revealed to Hudson earlier this month, adding that her co-star agreed. “My great buddy Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso is on it and I nearly did because I knew he was going to be on it, but I'm a great big scaredy cat.”

Waddingham added: “This whole thing with the hoods and burying people alive – I don't care whether there's a crew there or not. Hell no. No. No. I’m going to watch at home with a nice red wine and some crisps.”