Hannah Waddingham has had something of a change of heart about the future of Ted Lasso.
The British actor won an Emmy for her portrayal of AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton in the hit comedy, and has made no secret of her disappointment that it doesn’t look like another season is on the cards.
Last year, she even joked she was prepared to trap the show’s co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis “in a dungeon with a notepad and a pen” in a bid to get new episodes written. She’s also spoken favourably about the idea of a spin-off featuring her character.
However, she appears to have eased on this stance in the past 12 months.
During an upcoming interview on Sunday Today with Willie Geist, Hannah was asked about whether she’d be up for a fourth season of Ted Lasso.
While she said she’d “love” the opportunity to play Rebecca again, Hannah quickly added; “But, I mean, one thing’s for sure. Unless the man himself is down with that, then it’s not for me.”
Hannah heaped praise on Jason throughout the interview, claiming she’d “never worked so hard” as she did on Ted Lasso to gain his approval.
“Just that ‘uh-huh’ [from Jason],” she told the show with a laugh. “It doesn’t matter who else is there. It kinda didn’t matter who was directing.”
Of her final Ted Lasso scenes, Hannah recalled: “I used to go, ‘Is Jason — is he filming? Is he filming? Can we just wait a little bit? Is he around?’. Because I wanted to get that ending right with him.
“When somebody sees something in you, like I’ve had very few points in my career elsewhere, you don’t want to let that person down, you know?”
Since Ted Lasso came to an end, Hannah and Jason have reunited on several occasions, including her 2023 Christmas special and a charity event where they performed a duet of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s Shallow.
At this year’s Golden Globes in January, Hannah revealed she was still pining for her days at AFC Richmond, summing up what she missed about Ted Lasso succinctly in one word.
Watch Hannah’s interview on Sunday Today in the US on NBC News on Sunday 21 April.