Here's How Much Hannah Waddingham Is Really Worth - Nicki Swift (2024)

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ByAcacia Deadrick/Oct. 27, 2021 7:09 pm EST

English actor Hannah Waddingham has been performing professionally for years. While she was already known for her work on the West End, Broadway, and HBO's "Game of Thrones," she really rose to prominence in Hollywood during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to her role as Rebecca Welton on Apple TV+'s hit comedy "Ted Lasso." In 2021, the actor's work won her an Emmy Awardin the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series category.

After spending years in front of an audience, Waddingham's wealth has continued to grow. There are no clear net worth figures for Waddingham, although multiple unconfirmed reports put the number anywhere from $1 to $10 million. Should the rest of her career mirror the success she's found on "Ted Lasso," the London native will likely see that number rise.

Waddingham had to work for many years to reach the level of fame she enjoys now, and she had to transition from live theater to film — all while facing difficulties in her personal life. Now, after decades in the industry, the actor is having her moment and showing the world the true depth of her talent. Find out how she has proved herself at every stage of her career to become the prosperous star she is today.

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Hannah Waddingham's successful, and ultimately lucrative, career began with her first gig in the live show "Joni and Gina's Wedding,"where the audience is as much part of the performance as the performers. It was not only important that Waddingham find work to break into the world of show business, but also to support herself. During a 2021 appearance on the "White Wine Question Time" podcast, she spoke about how much her success means to her, saying, "Because I didn't come from money, it's never been the be-all and end-all, and when some comes, I don't take it lightly."

Her role in "Joni and Gina's Wedding" gave her more than just an income — it gave her experience. "That really let me cut my teeth, because you have to be quick-witted and on it and go with whatever someone else has said," Waddingham told U Interview of her role in the show. "That's probably what got me into the worlds of comedy and drama."

Waddingham's experience marrying comedy and drama would later serve her well in her career-shifting role in "Ted Lasso."

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Hannah Waddingham has always been part of the performance world. The actor, a graduate of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, comes from a line of opera singers. When she took to the stage herself, she began building a long resume of stage performances, both on Broadway and London's West End, including "Spamalot" and "The Wizard of Oz," per Broadway World. If you've watched "Ted Lasso" (if you haven't, you might want to binge it immediately after reading this), you've heard Waddingham sing — you know how talented she is.

Earning a living as a theater star can be difficult, though. The year Waddingham starred in "Spamalot," her fellow West End performers went on strike, demanding higher wages, per the Evening Standard. There's no word whether Waddingham joined the strike, but she certainly could have benefited from the protest.

Now that she's found success, Waddingham wants other West End performers to have the same opportunities she's had, and she campaigned for it while accepting her Emmy Award. She urged the audience, "West End musical theater performers need to be on screen more. Please give them a chance, 'cause we won't let you down." If the rest of the West End performers are anything like Waddingham, they definitely won't let us down.

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Since "Ted Lasso" premiered on Apple TV+, Hannah Waddingham has become one of television's biggest stars, but her trip to the top wasn't without adversity. In fact, before landing her role in "Joni and Gina's Wedding," she almost quit performing entirely. "I was like, if I don't get this, I think I should just give up," she told Esquire.

Waddingham's theater career flourished once she got the ball rolling, but finding roles on television was still difficult, despite her success on stage. "It's quite hard on this side of the pond if you're a musical theater person to be taken seriously," she added to Esquire.

Eventually, the actor was "taken seriously" as she secured spots on popular shows including "Sex Education" and "Benidorm." Waddingham also landed a role on "Game of Thrones." As a series regular, she possibly earned anywhere from$15,000 to $25,000 per episode, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her character on the successful HBO seriesbecame known as the "Shame Nun." On "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Waddingham revealedthat she kept the infamous bell from the scene that earned her the nickname. We wonder what "Ted Lasso" memento she plans to keep. We'd keep Brett Goldstein.

If Waddingham is ever in need of money, she could sell the "Game of Thrones" bell. A crown from the show was once auctioned off for $25,000 dollars, per Original Prop Blog. So we're guessing that her bell could make her a decent chunk of change.

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Hannah Waddingham has proven time and again that she's a versatile performer by taking her talents from one medium to another, including film. The actor has been in multiple movies, most notably the 2012 film adaptation of "Les Misérables,"which grossed nearly half a billion dollars worldwide, per The Numbers. She likely didn't receive a large percentage of the profits since she only had a small part in the production, but isn't acting in a movie alongside Hugh Jackman payment enough?

While not all of her acting roles have been large ones, it seems that Waddingham has been paid well enough to be selective. As she told Forbes, "I've always been very picky about the parts that I take." However, as Waddingham revealed while on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," she'd choose singing over acting if she were forced to pick, adding, "Singing is in my bloodstream. It's my catharsis; it's in my soul." And her singing career has arguably been more successful than her movie career. The performer has graced stages across the world with her vocal talent, singing beloved musical numbers like "Memory" from "Cats" and "Take Me Or Leave Me" from "Rent," per Broadway World.

Fortunately for her (and us), Waddingham also gets to sing in "Ted Lasso." Excuse us while we add her rendition of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" to our holiday playlist.

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"Ted Lasso"has been a massive success for Apple TV+. The show's freshman season garnered 20 Emmy nominations and seven wins, including Hannah Waddingham's award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series and another big one in the outstanding comedy series category. The heartwarming show is beloved by fans, and Apple made sure that the creators and actors would be well-compensated for their success as they prepared to start filming Season 3.

For her role as one of the show's main characters, Waddingham reportedly scored a huge pay increase. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor was paid somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000 dollars per episode for the first two seasons of the show, but her pay was bumped up to somewhere between $125,000 and $150,000 dollars per episode for Season 3.

Waddingham is very grateful for the success of the show and credits the entire cast and crew for it. She told Town & Country, "None of us knew what this was going to be. It could have fallen on its a**, couldn't it? But because none of us knew what it was, I think we hunkered down and bandied together very early on. It was such a beautiful surprise that it was so successful."

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Hannah Waddingham is a dedicated actor, but she's even more dedicated to her family. She's not married, but she does share a child with her ex-boyfriend, restauranteurGianluca Cugnetto. Waddingham and Cugnetto welcomed a baby girl in 2014, and the tot soon appeared on her mom's Twitter page. During her 2021 Emmys speech, Waddinghamrevealed that she and Cugnetto had split when she describedherself as a "single mom."

Waddingham's pregnancy was a welcome surprise. She shared on the "White Wine Question Time" podcast, "I was just told that it would be unlikely for me to conceive." When she did get pregnant, she told Lorraine Kelly (viaHuffPost), "I just feel massively privileged and blessed. It just feels more important than any other job I've ever had." After she landed her "Ted Lasso" role, she got to enjoy the convenience of working just 30 minutes away from home. This made it much easier for her to perform her "main role, which is to be mama," she said on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Her other passion in life? Skincare. Waddingham told Glamour she would have pursued a career in the beauty industry had working on the stage and screen not panned out. Fortunately, it did, because her skincare routine is quite expensive. Waddingham revealed that she uses over a dozen different products, some nearing $200 dollars. We should take notes — her skin looks fabulous.

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Hannah Waddingham's role as a mother took a terrifying turn when her daughter was diagnosed with Henoch-Schonlein Purpura, or HSP, which she opened up about on the "White Wine Question Time" podcast. She told host Kate Thornton that she had been filming in Belfast when she learned about the diagnosis and was unable to return home.

Waddingham's nightmarish experience motivated her to manifest a role closer to home. She told Thornton that she stood in her garden, looked up at the sky, and said, "Is there any way you could give me something that will really just fill our lives, and let me do things with her, and, as a single mum, will keep us financially?" Two months later, she auditioned for "Ted Lasso."

Thanks to her manifestation practice, Waddingham believes that she landed a role that she's grateful to have, but it's not the only one she's thankful for. She told The Playlist, "I pinch myself all the time that I've had, with 'Ted Lasso,' and with 'Sex Education' and 'Game of Thrones.' I've found myself in shows that are loved the world over and really compensated by that." Monetary compensation can't top that.

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Hannah Waddingham has used her success — professional and financial — to give back to her community. In February 2020, she entertained a theater audience with her impeccable singing voice for a good cause, joining a charity performance of "The Pirate Queen" at the London Coliseum. The proceeds benefited Leukaemia UK, per The Live Review.

The performance was meaningful to Waddingham for multiple reasons. She told The Live Review, "Performing at the London Coliseum brings back so many memories. I grew up here. My dear mum was in the chorus of the English National Opera and I spent my childhood running around the stalls and sitting in the dressing rooms. So to be here for the first time in my career as a performer is a very special moment."

It should come as no surprise that Waddingham is very involved in raising money to support the theatrical industry. In 2017, she and a group of fellow thespians played the role of waiters to raise funds for the charitable organizationActing For Others, which helps"those in the entertainment profession who have fallen on hard times," perBelfast Telegraph. They served guests food and drinks at The Ivy restaurant in London, where Imelda Staunton temporarily took on the role ofmaître d'. Waddingham and the rest of the famous restaurant staff helped raise over $200,000, according toWhatsOnStage. She participated in the same event in 2019 when it brought in over $120,000 for the charity, per Theatre-news.com.

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Hannah Waddingham has won over audiences in Britain, across the pond, and all over the rest of the world. Her prolific career has spanned genres and mediums, and she still has work she wants to do. In addition to signing on to play Rebecca Welton in Season 3 of "Ted Lasso," Waddingham landed a role voicing a characterin Dan Harmon's animated series "Krapapolis" in 2021, per Deadline. She alsojoined the cast of the miniseries "Tom Jones,"so she'll likely be gracing our television screens for years to come.

Waddingham's career — and net worth — has completely changed due to "Ted Lasso," and she's well aware of just how much it's impacted her life. "I worry that I will never experience that again because it is such a gift," she said of her role on the show in an interview with Rose & Ivy.

Waddingham doesn't want to limit herself, though. When asked what else she wants to manifest, she was very clear. "I want to do musical film," she said."I am literally like a greyhound waiting to get out on that effing track." It's a path that could be quite lucrative — after all, "Les Misérables" was a huge box office success.

Whatever musical film Hannah Waddingham is cast in, we'll be the first to buy tickets.