Ted Lasso Star Hannah Waddingham Played A Superhero On A Popular British Sitcom
Years before she portrayed the powerful Rebecca Welton on "Ted Lasso," Hannah Waddingham was wielding real superpowers on the set of "My Hero."
Waddingham portrayed two separate characters on the superhero sitcom "My Hero," both among her early onscreen roles. She first appeared in the Season 4 episode "Time and Time Again" as Miranda, the girlfriend of a series regular from an alternate timeline, then returned in the Season 6 episode "Sidekick" as Lula/Thermowoman, a superpowered female clone that "My Hero" protagonist George Monday (James Dreyfus) creates so he can spend more time with his wife Janet (Emily Joyce). After George and Lula's growing closeness begins to trouble Janet, George takes steps to end Lula's burgeoning superhero career, bringing her brief stint as Thermowoman to a close.
"My Hero" aired on BBC One from 2000 to 2006 and centered on the adventures of Thermoman, a superpowered alien from the planet Ultron who, when not in costume, poses as an ordinary man named George. George spends much of "My Hero" juggling his secret life as a superhero with the daily demands of civilian life, including his relationship with Janet and his struggles to understand human customs.
My Hero was one of Hannah Waddingham's many roles before Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham spent the early days of her TV career making a spate of brief appearances in British television shows, from "My Hero" to the popular English soap operas "Brookside" and "Doctors." While Waddingham worked in TV for over a decade before scoring her breakthrough role as Septa Unella in "Game of Thrones," she has said she's grateful that her biggest success came later in life. "I'm glad that it didn't happen when I was 20, 25, 30, because I know who I am," she said on a 2023 episode of "Josh Smith's Great Chat Show." "I don't apologize for who I am."
Waddingham achieved global stardom through her role as AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton on "Ted Lasso," though that success may have seemed to fans like it happened overnight. But Waddingham knows well how many years of work went into that recognition. "There are a few of us who have been right in the belly of things, working in places that are not as la-di-da as you would have in TV," Waddingham explained to The Guardian in July 2026.
With "Ted Lasso" Season 4 now streaming, Waddingham can look back on the diverse range of minor roles that led her there. "An overnight success after 25 years is delicious," she told The Guardian, adding, "I'm very at peace with who I am."