The Emmy winner confronted a paparazzo before hosting the Olivier Awards, which celebrate the best in U.K. theater.
Hannah Waddingham isn't afraid to confront photographers making demands on the red carpet. While posing before walking down the red carpet at the Laurence Olivier Awards Sunday night, the Ted Lasso star -- who served as the annual award show's host for the second year in a row -- had choice words for a paparazzo who allegedly demanded she "show me leg."
In a video captured and shared by X (formerly Twitter) user @odeiotedlasso, Waddingham, 49, is shown posing for photos outside the Royal Albert Hall when she stops to address the photographer, who remains offscreen. Although the photographer's comment is inaudible, Waddingham's reaction is clear.
"Oh my god, you'd never say that to a man, my friend," the actress says, visibly shocked.
"Don't be a d**k, otherwise I'll move off. Don't say, 'Show me leg.' No," she adds, walking away to the cheers of the watching crowd.
Waddingham has never had trouble standing up for herself. In January, the Emmy-winning actress opened up about her experience with a particularly unsupportive professor while chatting with the BBC Radio 2 podcast Michelle Visage’s Rule Breakers.
According to Waddingham, she once was mocked and insulted in front of her class by a drama teacher who opined on why she felt the young aspiring actress would never be successful on screen.
"I had one drama teacher that said to the whole class: 'Oh, Hannah will never work on screen because she looks like one side of her face has had a stroke,'" recalled Waddingham.
In response, Waddingham seemingly decided that she'd find success -- and spite that professor -- at any cost.
"I thought, 'I will do, come hell or high water, I will work on screen,'" Waddingham shared. With grit and determination, she began working hard and cultivating a slew of screen credits -- although often in small side roles and one-off appearances.
However, the teacher's comments gave her a "complex" that she said took years to shake off, and the lack of bigger, leading roles began to wear her down emotionally. She said she eventually decided to step back from film and TV altogether -- just as she got an offer for her now-iconic role on Game of Thrones.
Waddingham subsequently got her largest role to date starring as Rebecca Welton on all three seasons of Ted Lasso, which ultimately earned her an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
And Waddingham is always on the lookout for her next role. The actress told ET at Ted Lasso's final season premiere in March 2023 that she'd love to make an appearance on ABC's beloved school comedy, Abbott Elementary -- and she's got series star Lisa Ann Walter firmly in her corner.
"I thought that I could be an absolutely revolting a**hole English person that comes in," she said of her cameo vision. "I want to be really vile, or be really nice on face value, and then they're all like, 'She's a b*tch!'"
"If I got over actually being in the staff room, I'd be, like, fangirling," Waddingham admitted. "More than I do on [Ted Lasso]!"
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