Ted Lasso co-creator shares proof that star Hannah Waddingham does her own singing
Anyone who still doubted that Hannah Waddingham does her own singing can finally "Let It Go."
Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence offered irrefutable proof on Saturday, sharing a video of Waddingham, who plays Rebecca on the Apple TV+ comedy, apparently recording her performance of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" for season 2's Yuletide-themed episode.
"For those who asked if that was really @hannah_waddingham singing," Lawrence wrote dryly on Instagram, alongside a three-minute video of the actress belting out the classic holiday tune. "Wow. Her voice is okay, I guess. Bonus: I spy Jeremy Swift on bass," he added; at one point, the video pans to reveal Waddingham's costar accompanying her on upright bass.
It's no surprise if you know the actress's background: Waddingham is a veteran of musical theater, and has received three Laurence Olivier Award nominations (the U.K. equivalent of the Tony Awards) for her work on the London stage. She also had a "minimal foray into being a pop star," as she put it in an interview with EW, with the chart-making ballad "Our Kind of Love" in 2000.
That "Christmas" performance wasn't even Waddingham's first powerhouse vocal showcase on the series; a season 1 episode memorably featured Rebecca singing Frozen's Oscar-winning anthem "Let It Go" at karaoke. The Emmy-nominated actress previously explained to EW how Ted Lasso himself, Jason Sudeikis, cajoled her into performing the song.
"I went to Jason and said, 'I've avoided singing this song since it came out, because it's a beast,'" Waddingham said. "He's stroking the 'tache, and he goes, 'Okay, you find me a song that's better for your character.' I was like, 'Fine, I will!' Unfortunately, he knows exactly what he's doing and had chosen the right song. I had to just get on with it."
Fortunately, it all worked out: As Waddingham revealed during her interview on EW's The Awardist podcast, the writers of "Let It Go" reached out to her to share their approval.
"[They] said that they loved it and that's how they imagined it!" she said. "Which, as a musical theater girl, was just insane."
New episodes of Ted Lasso are currently dropping Fridays on Apple TV+.
Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring Emmys analysis, exclusive interviews, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's TV shows and performances.
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