You may have seen our big announcement recently that star of stage and screen Hannah Waddingham is going to be returning as our host for the Olivier Awards 2024 with Mastercard.
You might recognise Hannah from her recent big hit roles in Ted Lasso or Hocus Pocus 2 – or even from the new shots released of her and co-star Ryan Gosling sheltering from the rain on set for their upcoming film The Fall Guy. Or of course for just being an all-round icon.
@officiallondontheatre Queen of glam #HannahWaddingham serving us ice Queen vibes #olivierawards #redcarpetfashion #fashion #redcarpet #theatre #musicaltheatre #tedlasso ♬ Lazy Sunday – Official Sound Studio
The London-born actress has a huge list of roles under her belt, including stints on the West End and Broadway as well as TV and film. And no wonder – with an acting range that goes from hard-hitting drama to perfect comedy alongside a 4-octave vocal range you really have to ask; is there anything Hannah Waddingham *can’t* do? You can catch her displaying some of her incredible voice in a charity Wes End Unplugged concert from 2020 here:
Her 2021 Emmy acceptance speech went viral after she implored TV to look more to West End actors like herself for on-screen roles, saying “we won’t let you down”. But Hannah’s no stranger to big awards, having received Best Actress in a Musical Olivier Award nominations for Spamalot, A Little Night Music and Kiss Me Kate alongside the five nominations and five win she’s garnered as Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso.
Congratulations to the incredible @hanwaddingham on her Emmy Awards win. You are a treasure of our industry 🧡 Did anyone else squeal when she mentioned @MazzWoman?! pic.twitter.com/T8kqEe7uUV
— Official London Theatre | TKTS (@london_theatre) September 20, 2021
Hannah’s big theatre credits include:
Christine in The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge Theatre (2000)
Starbird in Space Family Robinson at the Pleasance Theatre Islington (2002)
Nikki Wade in Bad Girls: The Musical at the West Yorkshire Playhouse (2006)
Lady of the Lake in Spamalot at the Palace Theatre, West End and the Shubert Theatre on Broadway (2006-2008)
Bill Ward, Hannah Waddingham and Peter Davison in Spamalot. Photo by David Ellis.
Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at the Garrick Theatre (2009)
The Witch in Into the Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre (2010)
Hannah Waddingham as The Witch in Into The Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Photo By Catherine Ashmore
Miss Gulch / The Wicked Witch Of The West in The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium (2011)
Lilli Vanessi / Katharina Minola in Kiss Me, Kate at The Old Vic (2012)
You’ll also find Hannah pop up in a huge number of well-loved classic British TV programmes and sitcoms including Coupling, Brookside, Doctors, Marple, My Family, Not Going Out, Bad Education and Midsomer Murders, so keep your eye out for her in back episodes of those!
But in terms of leading roles you may know her as; she played glam beauty therapist Tonya Dyke in Benidorm; devoted High Sparrow follower Septa Unella in Game Of Thrones; Head Boy Jackson’s aspirational mum Sofía in Sex Education; and of course the complicated and reserved head of AFC Richmond Rebecca Welton in Ted Lasso.
You can get tickets to the Olivier Awards and be there in person to witness Hannah’s first ever hosting of the prestigious awards, alongside a list of starry presenters and nominees yet to be announced! Book here exclusively through priceless.com.