Hannah Waddingham is heartbroken to see ‘Ted Lasso’s’ Rebecca go

Since reaching worldwide stardom as headstrong football team owner Rebecca Welton on “Ted Lasso,” Hannah Waddingham has been sought after for many different projects. But, she says, she’s willing to play Rebecca on the series until the end of time.

Although the show garnered a whopping 20 Emmy nominations for Season 2 last year, creator and star Jason Sudeikis has said Season 3, which debuts on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, will likely be the last.

The Emmy-winning Waddingham told CNN in a recent interview that she “loves” Rebecca, and “my God, I would literally [keep going].”

“I already miss her,” Waddingham said. “If I don’t get to play her again, you know, there’s no Rebecca without me playing her. And it’s a very weird thing to miss someone who only exists on screen.”

That actress said she cares for Rebecca and the choices she makes and wants “to know where she goes next.”

“I love that she’s a bit ramshackled and you think she’s all together and she’s an absolute hot mess,” Waddingham laughed.

Caring for her “feels like I’m serving a friend,” she added. “And I want to continue to serve her. I want to see what happens when she turns 50, or see what happens when, you know, this person gets married and how they feel about that. Or see what happens when she loses her mother. All those things. I’m not ready [for the end.] I’m not getting the last beat of her life, you know?”

Playing a person who appears powerful but feels vulnerable is universal, Waddingham said.

“Because we have that in all of us. I know I certainly do,” she said. “I’m quite an open book and the reason why I identified with her and had such an affinity with her in the first place, and I’ve been very vocal about this, I had been in a verbally abusive relationship, which people wouldn’t think that I would have looking at me. So I already had a shorthand into who she was and how beautifully they write it. And, certainly Season 3, I love that we get back to slightly lost Rebecca.”

Viewers will learn more about Rebecca’s background in coming episodes, Waddingham revealed. Her character’s love life has been a theme on the show, but she said she does not want Rebecca to end up with Ted, as some viewers have wished.

“[Jason Sudeikis] and I have always been quite shocked that everyone’s so obsessed with [our characters] as a romantic, sexual relationship,” she said. “It speaks more about social conditioning, presuming that if two people get on with each other and are looking out for each other, that immediately will then bleed into a romantic sexual relationship. There’s more longevity in these two souls having each other in each other’s pocket.”