Hannah Waddingham is an English actress and singer, best known for her contribution to West End musical theatre, particularly her performances in the original London production of Spamalot, the 2010 Regent’s Park revival of Into the Woods, and most recently, The Wizard of Oz (as the Wicked Witch of the West). She has received three Olivier Award nominations for her work.
Waddingham was born in Wandsworth in London, and credits her mother’s family with her introduction to performing – her mother, Melodie Kelly, was an opera singer, as were both her maternal grandparents. A graduate of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Waddingham has had a successful career in the London theatre, including her performance as Starbird in Space Family Robinson (Julian & Stephen Butler, 2002); Suzanne Valadon in Lautrec.
However, it is for her portrayal of the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot (in the London production and then on Broadway), that she is best known; she received an Olivier Award nomination for her efforts.
She received outstanding reviews for her portrayal of Desirée Armfeldt in Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed revival of A Little Night Music, including being described by one critic as the “Joanna Lumley of musical theatre”. Waddingham subsequently received a further Olivier Award nomination in 2010 for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Night Music.
In mid-2010, Waddingham played the Witch in the critically acclaimed production of Into the Woods at London’s Open Air Theatre.
She originated the role of the Wicked Witch of the West in the West End production of The Wizard of Oz, which opened on 1 March 2011 at the London Palladium. She left the production on 4 September 2011. Waddingham won the whatsonstage.com Theatergoers Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance.
In 2012, Waddingham starred in Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2012 revival of Kiss Me, Kate. The show transferred to the Old Vic Theatre on London’s South Bank in November 2012.
On film, she appeared alongside Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables and as Elizabeth Maddox in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. On British TV, she’s appeared in shows such as Footballer’s Wives, Hollyoaks, Doctors, and more.
In 2015, she joined the cast of the fifth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones as Septa Unella. In 2017, she starred as the recurring character Magdalena in SyFy’s 12 Monkeys.
Most recently, she was cast as DC Comics’ character Jax-Ur in the new SyFy series Krypton.