Hannah Waddingham on LGBTQ+ allyship and meeting the ‘really fabulous’ Luke Evans
Exclusive: The Ted Lasso star says "It wouldn't cross my mind to not lift the LGBTQ community up"
Hannah Waddingham has spoken passionately about her allyship with the LGBTQ+ community telling Attitude she wants to help broaden other people’s understanding of the community.
The Ted Lasso and Game of Thrones star‘s Christmas special, Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, is available on Apple TV+ from Wednesday 22 November.
Speaking to Attitude ahead of the show’s launch, Waddingham discussed being an ally to the community she loves.
She said it meant “everything” to her to be recognised as an ally. “It wouldn’t cross my mind to not lift the LGBTQ community up. I feel like often the community is judged for being one thing externally.”
She continued by saying that it was partly why she wanted to include the London Gay Men’s Chorus, of which she is a patron. Elsewhere she also revealed that she had included the London Gay Men’s Chorus (LGMC) in her original pitch to Apple. It also applied to her friends and her daughter’s godfathers, Scott Baker and Patrick Davey, The Fabulous Lounge Swingers.
Waddingham went on to say: “I think too often people look at the exterior of the LGBTQ community. It’s why I wanted to do RuPaul’s Drag Race [UK] because I wanted to take a look into the brilliant performers that people are as well. And to not just be defined by the obvious things that everyone else defines them by.”
“He was really fabulous” – Hannah Waddingham on Luke Evans
Waddingham also discussed singing with Welsh actor Luke Evans, someone she said she’d known for about 20 years from theatre.
“I met him when he was doing Taboo, the Boy George musical, at what was called the Leicester Square Theatre. He must have been early twenties then and I remember thinking ‘Who’s that boy?’ Because he was really fabulous.”
While the two have never worked together professionally, Hannah shared what musical she’d like to do with Evans. “It would probably be something more traditional like Kiss Me Kate. I think we’d be pretty good in that together.”
Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas is available on Apple TV+ from Wednesday 22 November.