And in a recent podcast appearance, Hannah opened up some more about how she has stood up for herself and other actors throughout her career — before admitting that she keeps a “little list” of people who refused to give her a chance on her rise to global stardom.
Breaking down the hypocrisy on the Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist podcast, Hannah said: “At the time, I had 10 years of being a leading lady in the West End and really got a bit between my teeth that there were TV and film people who could come into theater… but going back that way didn’t happen.”
Hannah then recalled being given the occasional scene in filmed productions, but found that she and her theater peers weren’t treated as equals to the other actors on set. The most notable production in this instance was Tom Hooper’s 2012 movie adaptation of the esteemed book-turned-musical Les Misérables.
Hannah briefly appears in the film, performing as part of an ensemble for the song “At The End of the Day” alongside Anne Hathaway. While the leading cast for the movie was made up of A-list names and established movie stars, the background actors and ensemble performers were mainly lesser-known musical theater actors.
Hannah went on to credit the British show Benidorm for giving her her big break in the TV industry in 2014, followed by Game of Thrones the next year. Hannah plays the “Shame” nun, Septa Unella, in the HBO fantasy series, and she admitted on the podcast that she thought she had no chance of landing the role, and only went to the audition in the hope of meeting showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for future opportunities.
In 2020, Hannah landed arguably her most prominent breakout TV role in Ted Lasso, but despite the show’s creator and star Jason Sudeikis wanting to cast Hannah right away, she said that a couple of other people involved in the decision were “unsure” because she was “less known” — and Benioff and Weiss ended up writing “the powers that be” an email advocating for her.
And this mentality goes both ways, with Hannah later admitting that she also mentally keeps a “small list” of people in the industry who didn’t want to know her on her way up, but are now getting in contact.
She explained: “I’m not going to lie, there are a few producers that are now suddenly like: ‘Is there a book you want to develop or…’ and I’m just like: ‘No, you’re alright, just look somewhere else.’ Because we’re human and we remember, so no. Bog off!”
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