Hannah Waddingham has admitted she had to put her foot down with the organisers of the Olivier Awards just days before this year’s ceremony.
Last month, the Emmy winner hosted the theatre-based awards show for the second year running, once again winning huge praise for her presenting work.
The night began with a performance from Hannah, in which she reworked the Cole Porter classic Anything Goes with new lyrics to suit the event.
During an appearance on Monday’s edition of The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon heaped praise on Hannah’s musical number, which she revealed she’d “picked a fight” with bosses about in the lead-up to the event.
“The manuscript arrived with me, and I said to my pianist Joe Stilgoe, I put my hands on the music and I went, ‘right…’. And he went, ‘oh god’,” Hannah shared.
“It was literally like I’d pulled the pin out and chucked a grenade in, 10 days before – because I wanted to set the tone for the whole night to not be stuffy!”
She added: “I picked a fight, and it was worth it, because I’m very proud of it.”
After watching a clip of her performance, the Ted Lasso star enthused: “Boom! We came to play!”
On the red carpet of the Oliviers, Hannah also wound up making headlines when she was caught on video putting a male photographer in his place after he made a sexist remark towards her.
She later revealed: “I called out what [was] absolutely necessary to call out and I’ve received a written apology and now I’m so ready to move on.”
Watch Hannah’s Tonight Show interview – complete with a musical moment of its very own – in the video below:
