Teletubbies: Who Plays Po? Meet The Incredible Women Behind The Red Teletubby
Po is the littlest and youngest of the titular toddlers on the BBC's children's television program "Teletubbies." Of course, Po, who stands at a staggering six feet and five inches, is only tiny in comparison to her much taller siblings. Oftentimes silly and attentive, "little" Po is the only bilingual Teletubby, as her child-like speech features both English and Cantonese. And, for a dash of fun trivia, Po's favorite pastime is riding her scooter.
It's easy to make jokes about how creepy the Teletubbies — who legitimately inspired the Disney+ "Loki" series — can be but it's more interesting to look at the kind of talent it requires to bring these towering, sentient television aerials to life. After all, the things are essentially elaborate, hulking mascot costumes. Operating one is a mighty task that requires more than a love for acting — it demands physical prowess. Across the full chronology of "Teletubbies," two different performers have lent their skills to Po. There are two women behind the red Teletubby: Pui Fan Lee, who performed the role during the show's 1997 original run, and Rachelle Beinart, who performed the role during the show's 2015 revival, along with the 2022 Netflix reboot.
Pui Fan Lee has made a career out of entertaining children
Pui Fan Lee is a British actor who accepted the role of Po almost immediately after graduating from drama school. According to a 2014 interview with Enfield Independent, the performer had no idea what she was getting into when she was hired for the production. "It was just one of those auditions I got sent to," said Fan Lee. "I could have been sent anywhere that day." She went on to describe the experience on set and inside the costume as being the most physically demanding job of her life.
And yet it didn't deter her love for the work because, as Enfield Independent notes, Fan Lee is credited for 365 episodes of "Teletubbies." It's worth mentioning that IMDb tallies a different numerical total, with the site claiming that Fan Lee only appeared in 227 episodes. It's possible that the 365 number includes all of her appearances in corollary media, like "Play With the Teletubbies," a video game released in 2000.
While she also performs in more mature media from time to time, Fan Lee continues to work in children's entertainment even to this day. She's spent the last decade working with CBeebies, a BBC free-to-air public broadcast that focuses on children's entertainment media. "The secret is genuinely being interested in the work," she told Enfield Independent. "If you have any type of cynicism kids see it in your eyes and it's really not worth it."
Rachelle Beinart is a stuntwoman who never slows down
Rachelle Beinart is a British actor and stuntwoman who joined the British Stunt Register after she realized that gymnastics could become a full-time career if she played her cards correctly. Unlike Pui Fan Lee, whose career orbits in perpetuity around her time working in children's entertainment, Beinart's gravity is tethered to the stunt work.
Yes, she played Po in the BBC's revival of "Teletubbies," where she appeared as the character for 120 episodes. Elsewhere, her physical prowess can be seen in everything from "Snow White and the Huntsman," "Les Misérables," and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," to "The Batman," "Morbius," and "Game of Thrones," the last of which earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Beinart reprised her role as Po in Netflix's reboot of "Teletubbies," which features Titus Burgess as the Narrator. The reboot received a positive response but there's no official word as to whether it will receive another season as of the time of writing. Who knows, maybe this time the Teletubbies won't disappear. In the meantime, Beinart's neverending stunt work can be seen next in "The Marvels" because, seriously, she's in everything.