Hannah Waddingham has said that the portrayal of her character in Ted Lasso was inspired by Apprentice star Karren Brady.
The Apple TV+ series sees Ted Lasso, an American football coach, move to England to manage a professional football team, despite having no experience of working in the sport.
Waddingham told the PA news agency she had “kind of followed [Baroness Brady’s] unswerving power through a man’s world for years”.
Baroness Brady “never for a second loses her femininity or chooses to hide it”, Waddingham said.
“I think she’s a wonderful role model for young women who must get sick and tired growing up seeing overly glossy, plastic women on the front of women’s magazines,” she added.
Rebecca is a “force to be reckoned with” on the surface, Waddingham said, adding: “But actually, she’s an absolute house of cards.
“You pull one card away and the whole lot comes down.”
“It was just a gift to play in terms of I just don’t get to play that fragility, and then suddenly having a killer funny line, it’s a real rarity for me and so I hope I’ve done it justice,” the Game Of Thrones star said.
Her character is “vast and layered”, she added.
Ted Lasso launches on Apple TV+ on Friday.