Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham admitted that she feels guilty “every time” she has to temporarily leave her 12-year-old daughter for acting.
“I am about to go out and do press next season Ted [Lasso]then there is the mother's guilt,” Waddingham, 51, told The guard in an interview published on Saturday, July 18. “But I have to try to fight it.”
Waddingham adopted Kitty's daughter with an Italian hotel manager Gianluca Cugnetto in 2014, although the former couple split in 2022.
The Emmy winner revealed that she was “eight months pregnant” with Kitty when she was offered her world-famous role. Game of Thrones as the vengeful Septa Unella. When the actor thought about turning down the job, he realized that it would be a mistake to turn down a “juggernaut” like him Game of Thrones.
Still, Waddingham recalled feeling extremely guilty about being away from newborn Kitty when it came time to film her role in the HBO series.
“[One part of me] he just thought, 'Oh my God, what have I done?'” He said, “The other part was going, I have terrible separation anxiety. So when I look at it, I see a woman who does not know whether she is coming or going.”
Now, Waddingham is trying to keep something close to her daughter when she's not at work – including bringing a cardboard bag designed by Kitty to the 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards (now known as The Actor Awards).
“I picked it up and said, 'We actually have more space in it than a regular, designer, silly bag, so I'm going to take it on the red carpet,'” she said. “I did it on purpose to show him that he is not far from me.”
As her daughter entered her teenage years, Waddingham considered taking on more roles on stage. (The British actor has been nominated three times for the Laurence Olivier Awards but has not worked on stage since a 2015 production in London. How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying due to the demanding requirements of the theater.)
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“I don't think my daughter is ready,” she admitted, adding, “I need to find time to be able to go, 'Right now I'm taking off this coat and putting my theater coat back on.'”
Currently, Waddingham is reprising her role as soccer team owner Rebecca Welton in the long-awaited fourth season. Ted Lassopremiering on Apple TV+ in August.
He also has two major films in the works – the animated adaptation of which Paul McCartney, Geoff Dunbar again Philip Ardagha novel Up in the Clouds and surreal action-comedy Jason Statham Stole My Bike.
