Hannah Waddingham 'brilliant but naughty' as co-star pays tribute to Ted Lasso actress
EXCLUSIVE: Hannah Waddingham has taken on the role of Lady Bellaston in the new ITV period drama Tom Jones. Solly McLeod, who plays the leading role, spoke to Express.co.uk about working alongside the Ted Lasso star and teased what viewers can expect from her "naughty" character.
Official trailer for TV series 'Tom Jones'
The four-part series, which is based on the 1749 novel by Henry Fielding, follows the journey of foundling Tom Jones (played by Solly McLeod) and his challenges to find love.
Abandoned as a baby, the young man finds himself constantly reminded of his lowly birth despite being raised by a country gentleman.
However, his controversial background hasn’t been much of an issue in the cheeky young man’s life until he falls in love with wealthy heiress Sophia Western (Sophie Wilde).
Both infatuated with one another, their two families disapprove of the relationship which sees Tom banished and Sophia fleeing to escape her arranged marriage.
Although their journey together won’t be plain sailing as they’re faced with a series of challenges along the way, including Sophia’s aunt Lady Bellaston (Hannah Waddingham) who will stop at nothing to destroy their love.
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Speaking to Express.co.uk and other media publications about working alongside the Ted Lasso star, actor Solly McLeod teased viewers can expect to see a villainous side of Lady Bellaston.
When asked what viewers can expect from her character, Solly said: “Naughtiness! She’s just very bad but in a very fun way.
“You feel you’re definitely attracted to her character. She’s a great central villain, if you want to call it a villain she’s not really.
“She did a fantastic job and it was brilliant just to be able to work with her.
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“We didn’t have loads of scenes together, but there are a few.
“in a lot of them, we weren’t wearing many clothes. It was all a bit, you know.
“But yeah, she was fantastic to work with, very reassuring. I learnt a lot from her. It was great to have her be part of the project.”
Also joining Hannah in the cast is James Fleet as Squire Allworthy, Alun Armstrong as Squire Western, Felicity Montagu as Aunt Bridget and Shirley Henderson as Aunt Western
Although ITV fans will see the show set in the English summertime, the cast was shooting in the middle of winter in Belfast.
Touching on the conditions while on-set, Solly added: “We’d wake up at like 3am to try and catch the light.
“It was freezing cold and we’re in these silk unbuttoned shirts!”
All episodes of Tom Jones are available to stream on ITVX
