Speculation has rabidly continued about the possibility of more Ted Lasso. Promising remarks from Jason Sudeikis and Channing Dungey, CEO of Warner Bros Television offer hope. But the greatest give-away of all seems to be the absence of new roles for Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt, whose friendship and writing partnership spawned the show in the first place.
Having created a mega hit, both creators are in an enviable position in Hollywood. Yet the TV industry lexicon IMDB Pro shows neither Sudeikis nor Hunt with much coming up, save a short film and voice-over work. Given that the show has catapulted the careers of the rest of the cast into the Hollywood stratosphere, why have Sudeikis’ and Hunt’s careers not shot forward in the same way? Suspicious? You bet. And conclusions, albeit speculative ones, point to them quietly working on something. Apple TV are clearly as desperate as we are for more. And Joe Kelly who was also part of the original writing team, also seems to be laying low. To prove the point and celebrate the arrival of all three seasons of Ted Lasso being released on Blu-ray by Warner Bros Pictures on July 30, let’s look at what some of the stars of Ted Lasso have been up to and where they are now.
Jason Sudeikis
Ever the sports fan, you are more likely to see Sudeikis’ face in the audience at sports events, than on your screen. He is a champion supporter of Women’s soccer and Women’s Basketball. But you can catch his voice in the forthcoming Angry Birds 3 movie, and the animated tv series Hit Monkey.
Brendan Hunt
This month, Hunt heads to Amsterdam for the Boom Chicago improv comedy week where he will perform a solo autobiographical show. He also has a role in a 16-minute sci-fi short called Continuum. Otherwise, his biggest role since Ted Lasso has been as Dad to his second baby with his partner Shannon Nelson who was born last March.
Hannah Waddingham
Waddingham delivered a spine-tingling rendition of Britain’s national anthem at the opening of the British Grand Prix, showing off, once more, what a great singer she is. She worked in theatre for many years before Ted Lasso, and since the show, her talents have been exposed to far bigger audiences. She was the host of The Olivier Awards; the Eurovision Song Contest and Apple TV's Christmas show. She’s also picked up roles in Mission Impossible 8, The Fall Guy, The Garfield Movie and a new TV series with Octavia Spencer.
Juno Temple
Proving her versatility, Temple has stunned audiences in the tv series Fargo and The Offer since Ted Lasso. Currently, she’s filming Everest with Ewan McGregor, and in the future, we’ll see her in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die with Sam Rockwell and the horror flick Venom: The Last Dance with Tom Hardy.
Brett Goldstein
Goldstein was originally one of the writers of Ted Lasso, before creating his own role as Roy Kent. Since then, both his career as a writer and actor have soared. He was one of the creators of Shrinking (Apple TV) which will have a second season this year and co-wrote the upcoming film For Life. He had a role in Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder and stars in the forthcoming film At The Sea with Amy Adams. Fans of Goldstein are also currently able to catch him on tour with his own stand-up comedy show The Second Best Night Of Your Life.
Nick Mohammed
Mohammed was not exactly unknown on British TV before Ted Lasso came along, working solidly in many comedy shows like Intelligence, Mandy and Stath Lets Flats. But Ted Lasso took him to the next level. In post-production now are films he stars in, like Deep Cover with Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean; Control with Julianne Moore and James McAvoy, and a British drama called MicDrop. Fans will also recognize his voice in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
Christo Fernandez
Fernandez was one of the few actors in the show who was a real professional football player. Injured in an accident, he’d abandoned a professional sports career in favor of acting, and might have remained a little-known face until Ted Lasso came along. Roles in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Venom: The Last Dance, and the TV series Zorro have all followed.
Phil Dunster
Dunster’s stunning performance as Jamie Tartt wowed us all, but it wasn’t until Hannah Waddingham’s Christmas show on Apple TV, that we discovered he could also sing! A role in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma followed in London’s West End, alongside other TV roles like Surface and The Devil’s Hour, but as a real showcase of talent, look out for the forthcoming Idiomatic a comedy short which Dunster has written, directed and stars in.
Toheeb Jimoh
A role in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch quickly followed after Jimoh first appeared in Ted Lasso as Sam. But it is The Power, a TV show based on the New York Times bestseller which gives him a stellar starring role.
Jeremy Swift
Swift was always a steady working actor with small roles in British shows like Foyles War, Downton Abbey, The Durrells, Casualty and Doc Martin. Ted Lasso has taken him to bigger screens. Watch out for Grow, a comedy film with Nick Frost and Jane Horrocks, Welcome to the Fishbowl with Marin Hinkle, and Disney’s Descendants: The Rise of Red.
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