The actor and co-creator discusses the show that has secured a record-breaking number of Emmy nominations.<\/b>
\nTed Lasso \u2019s status as a pop culture phenomenon is something that Jason Sudeikis did not see coming. \u201cIt was a shock,\u201d he admitted as we spoke over Zoom a few weeks before the show garnered a record 20 Emmy nominations. The first season landed on Apple AAPL TV+ in August 2020 and quickly caught on as one of the go-to shows, distracting people from the global pandemic. The comedy, which started life as a TV ad, took on a life of its own. It was renewed for a second season five days after the first episode premiered on the streamer. The show, co-created by Sudeikis, sees him play the titular lead, an American football coach given the job of managing a struggling soccer team in London. As the second season premieres on Friday, July 23, 2021, we discussed the journey and whether he\u2019d ever invest in a soccer team. Simon Thompson: It genuinely seems like no one expected Ted Lasso to have the impact that it did. Jason Sudeikis: It was a shock. All of us behind the scenes were very proud of the end product and how we came about it. The storytelling was intentional, the work ethic behind it and not being cynical towards the process or apathetic towards it as well as trying not to let our egos get in the way. That\u2019s all the stuff we had control over. The show\u2019s reception was out of our hands, so the positive response was as surprising to us as anyone, if not more so. I thought someone would like it. Simon Thompson: How would you describe the feeling of something you co-created catching on so fast? Sudeikis: I\u2019m from Kansas, so growing up, I got my music recommendations from Rolling Stone. If Rolling Stone is writing about something, it means people on the coasts have known about it for years. I got The Strokes way later than anyone on the Lower East Side. I had no way to anticipate that a ton of people would know or care about this. It caught on all over the place. I\u2019m sincerely flattered that people have picked up on so many of the themes, so many of the little touches and nuances. When we were writing it, we definitely did it in a way so that people would get it, but if they were to watch it again, people would see how we\u2019ve seeded things through it. The fact that people have watched it multiple times already, the fact that families are watching it together, that delights me no end. After we did the commercials, I was amazed when a couple of people dressed up as Ted and Coach Beard for Halloween a few times. That knocked our socks off, and that was back in 2014 and 2015. It\u2019s really something else. I honestly don\u2019t even know how to talk about it. Thompson: Now everything is set out, and people know the characters, what could you do with the second season of Ted Lasso that you couldn\u2019t do in the first? Sudeikis: There are little things that I knew we wanted to try to do. Many of the Ted Talks that he gives come at either your second act break or in the climax. Ted gives a speech about a dog in the first episode, and we wanted to put that up front, so we play with the balance and the tone but in a way that isn\u2019t startling and confusing. This season is about these individuals going through their own things. In the first season, Ted dealt with that from the get-go, in a Major League or The Producers type situation. He was set up to fail and went on this journey. Season two definitely starts in a typical second act, dramatic narrative where because we know these characters a little bit better, we\u2019re allowing that for all of them, but there\u2019s still that humor and heart. Thompson: As you mentioned, Ted Lasso started as a character in adverts. When you wanted to develop the idea further, did you always think of it as a TV series, or did you look to develop it as a movie? Would you do a Ted Lasso film? Sudeikis: It\u2019s never off the table, I guess. For me, it was when we did the commercial in 2013, and our goal was to do those; hopefully, Americans would like it; hopefully, Brits would like it; hopefully, soccer fans would like it, and we\u2019d maintain our comedic integrity. The ultimate goal was to get NBC to fly us out. That was the thing I argued for. I wanted that Joe Kelly, Brendan, my manager, Geoff Cheddy, and I got to go out to have Tottenham host us and watch them play Arsenal because Brendan\u2019s a big Arsenal fan, and that\u2019s a big rivalry. The commercials worked well, got a good response, and we got through the second one. That unlocked the enthusiasm and sort of optimism that the character of Ted Lasso had, and that\u2019s when it started germinating. That was where I was like, \u2018Oh, this, this character has legs.\u2019 It had marinated in my head there for a while. Brendan and Joe were living in LA, they came out to Brooklyn in early 2015, and after four days, we were asking that question, \u2018Is this another commercial? Could it be a TV series? Is it maybe a movie?\u2019 Thompson: So you played around with different ideas and forms? Sudeikis: Structure-wise, we modeled it on the British version of The Office. We kept coming up with stories and characters, whether it would be two seasons of six episodes and two 45 minute Christmas specials. That\u2019s where that three-season structure came from with the story. We just kept filling up pages; we beat out a pilot and then broke stories on a few different elements that absolutely ended up in the Apple show. We put it on a shelf for a while, and all of us did other things, but then a couple of years later, Bill Lawrence came along. I\u2019d created what is called a Bible for the show, which he didn\u2019t anticipate, and he was instantly like, \u2018Yeah, this is definitely a show. You could do this.\u2019 We started explaining the nuances of the themes and the show\u2019s philosophy, and he was right on board. Bill has been such a great mentor on both the show side and on the business side. Thompson: Having spent a lot of time in the UK now and being a soccer fan, have you thought about following in the footsteps of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who bought a team in Wales? Sudeikis: Good Lord. Ryan Reynolds is someone who I\u2019ve met a couple of times, but Rob I\u2019ve worked with along with all his cohorts on It\u2019s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Those guys have a lot more money than me. A lot more money. Ryan owns a gin business. I drink his stuff, so he makes money off me! Rob created It\u2019s Always Sunny, and that show has been kicking butt for something like 400 seasons now? (laughs) If anything, I could be an angel investor. I\u2019d happily get into a mascot costume and run around for a few bucks. But the closest I get to what those guys are doing is being one of the team managers on our AFC Pro Clubs FIFA team. Season two of Ted Lasso premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, July 23, 2021.<\/p>\n