The ‘Ted Lasso’ Cast Makes a Winning Team

As we prepare for the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Backstage is breaking down this year’s film and television ensemble work for your consideration. For more voting guides and roundups, we’ve got you covered here.

Main Cast: Annette Badland, Kola Bokinni, Phil Dunster, Cristo Fernández, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Toheeb Jimoh, Nick Mohammed, Sarah Niles, Jason Sudeikis, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham 
Casting by: Theo Park 
Created by: Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence 
Distributed by: Apple TV+

There’s something about playing with familiar teammates. When you know someone inside and out, can predict their next move, and are familiar with their weaknesses, you also know exactly how to help them shine. That’s where the ensemble of “Ted Lasso” finds itself three seasons in. As the characters and their stories have deepened and evolved, so, too, have the dynamics among this talented group of actors.

Take Hannah Waddingham’s Rebecca Welton: When we first met her, she was an embittered divorcée who, after gaining control of her ex-husband’s beloved football club, AFC Richmond, brought on know-nothing American football coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) out of sheer spite. Three seasons on, she’s a complex enough character to get her own standalone episode, focused on a chance romantic encounter in Amsterdam. The plot has very little to do with sports in a show that’s purportedly all about soccer. But that’s neither here nor there, because watching Rebecca discover the sweet joy of connecting with a stranger, letting her hair down and swapping her power suit for a sundress, is a highlight of Season 3. And it’s only possible because of the growth the character has experienced over the course of the series. 

Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) also ventures beyond the football pitch when he connects with his heritage by opening a Nigerian restaurant named after his father. It’s the realization of a dream that goes beyond what he thought he wanted as a child. It’s lovely to see his teammates band together to help him on his culinary venture; so when Sam turns down a sweetheart deal and opts to stay in Richmond, the choice makes sense—who could blame him for wanting to remain by their side?

If “Ted Lasso” is about anything, it’s coming home—and understanding that it’s less a where than a who. For a long time, Ted called Richmond his home, at ease among the goofy, complicated Greyhounds. But Nate Shelley (Nick Mohammed) never quite felt he belonged. At the end of Season 2, he left to work for the Greyhounds’ rivals, West Ham United, led by the villainous Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head). But his relationships there never approached the warmth he shared with Ted, or even the surliest Richmond players (looking at you, Jamie Tartt); and the experience made him realize where he truly wanted to be. 

Nate’s come a long way since his days as AFC Richmond’s boot boy, who was shocked that anyone would bother to learn his name. And when we hold him—or any of the regular characters, for that matter—up against their past selves, it’s obvious how the connections among the ensemble allow every cast member to shine. 

Just as a soccer team can’t perform to its greatest potential if a player is removed—lose a goalie? Disaster. No forwards? How will you score?—“Ted Lasso” fires on all cylinders because all the actors involved know how to perform their parts in collaboration with the larger cast. For example, bumbling football operations head Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift) is as important to the story as Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein). Sure, the former team captain gets meatier plotlines and more screen time; but devoted family man Leslie is an essential yardstick by which we measure other characters’ growth over the course of the series. 

Like all the best sports squads, the cast of Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence’s oddball comedy is greater than the sum of its parts. We’ve gotten to know the main players (pardon the pun) well over the show’s three seasons. But it’s the sweet interactions among the larger ensemble that highlight the charm and conflict inherent in the central characters. As Coach Lasso would say, teamwork makes the dream work—and this is a championship season.