Returning to Ted Lasso after 3-year break was ‘effortless’ yet out of comfort zone, say actors
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(From left) Jeremy Swift, Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple and Jason Sudeikis in Ted Lasso 4.
PHOTO: APPLE TV
LOS ANGELES – With World Cup excitement still reverberating, Apple TV’s football comedy hit Ted Lasso (2020 to present) is returning after a three-year hiatus, and members of the cast said they needed no warm-up to get back on the pitch.
“It felt completely and utterly... effortless. Just ridiculously effortless,” Hannah Waddingham said at a press event alongside co-stars Jeremy Swift and Juno Temple ahead of Season 4’s premiere on Aug 5.
“I think we’ve always felt like a family from day one on this,” added the 52-year-old English actress who plays Rebecca Welton, the ruthless president of the fictional professional English football club AFC Richmond.
English actor Swift, 66, who portrays team executive Leslie Higgins, chimed in that the cast “hit the ground running” when filming resumed.
The new season of Ted Lasso, which stars American actor Jason Sudeikis in the title role, shifts the action to the optimistic American coach’s (and Sudeikis’ own) native Kansas, where he has been invited to helm a second-division women’s team.
The trip allowed the actors to better understand Sudeikis’ inspiration when he co-created the show, one of Apple TV’s most successful series, said Temple, who plays the charismatic model turned publicist Keeley Jones.
“It felt like a really, really special way to come back again, to be slightly out of our comfort zone,” said the 37-year-old English actress. “That was great.”
It was vital to “have this kind of beautiful vacation together in a place that’s both very important to Ted and very important to Jason”, she added, describing it as “such a fun experience for all three of us”.
(From left) Brendan Hunt, Tanya Reynolds, Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift and Juno Temple at the premiere of Ted Lasso 4 in Los Angeles on July 27.
PHOTO: EPA
Showcasing women’s sports
Ted Lasso debuted on Apple TV in 2020 and became the platform’s flagship series.
In a teaser for its highly anticipated return, Sudeikis and American co-star Brendan Hunt appeared in character as Lasso and his assistant Coach Beard during the half-time show of the July 19 World Cup final between Argentina and Spain.
In the skit, Sudeikis acted as if he were sending Canadian pop superstar Justin Bieber into the match as a substitute.
The location shift in the new season has allowed the series to bring back familiar faces, including Sudeikis, Waddingham, Temple, Swift, Hunt and English actor Brett Goldstein, who plays AFC Richmond captain Roy Kent.
But it also offers the bandwidth to introduce new characters, bringing fresh tension and comedic drama.
The focus will be on the up-and-coming team, the challenges it faces and the roster of players jockeying for influence and pitch time.
Faye Marsay, who steps into the cleats of the sharp-tongued centre-back Lizzie, said she felt it was appropriate to use the hit series as a “platform to shine light on the problems in women’s sport and the things that we need to do better”.
The show is not “shoving anything down anyone’s throat”, said the 39-year-old English actress, but it is exposing challenges for women athletes, including motherhood and equal treatment. “I think we do it in a kind of subtle and graceful way.” AFP
Ted Lasso 4 premieres on Apple TV on Aug 5.