Yes, you can BELIEVE it: Ted Lasso, the Apple TV+ series that shocked the world and became a beloved hit in 2020 is coming back later this week with its Season 2 premiere.
So to celebrate, we’re doing a post a day until Friday about the Jason Sudeikis series that’s about more than a first-time soccer coach figuring out how to lead AFC Richmond. We started with the origins of how the series was born out of the NBC ads; we shared the shortbread biscuits recipe; and Alex McDaniel wrote about what the show taught us about what the show taught us about abuse, recovery and the pitfalls of revenge.
Have you ever interacted with a piece of fiction and, as you dig deeper and deeper into it, every fiber of your being begins to identify with one of the characters? Especially when the work is particularly good, this should be a familiar feeling.
That happened to Brett Goldstein the first time that he really digested the story of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso. But it felt less like he was casually taking a BuzzFeed-style personality quiz to find out which character he was most aligned with and more like something nearly cosmic.
Goldstein, a British actor and comedian, was actually working on the show when that overwhelming sensation struck him — and it hit him hard.
“I was a writer. I wrote on the show,” Goldstein, who is anxiously awaiting the release of the second season of the series, recently told For The Win. “We were in the writer’s room and by about episode five, I started to think: ‘I really understand Roy Kent. I really understand Roy Kent. I think Roy Kent is within me.’”
This identification process is fairly common when someone is consuming film or literature.
But as he helped develop Roy Kent, the brutish and beloved football legend who is well past his prime by the time he gets to AFC Richmond, it kept striking closer and closer to home.
Kent is a captain on the squad during the first season of the show, though he has one foot out the door as he also thinks about his own retirement. He isn’t afraid to curse at his teammates or in front of a group of school children. While he is mostly seen as stern and stoic, he is also an extremely affable character who can be warm — especially to his young niece.
As Goldstein kept writing for Kent, he knew that this draw to the character was much stronger than just a passing feeling. But he ran the risk of stepping on someone’s toes if he suggested himself for the part.
“I was so grateful to be writing on the show. It’s so special,” explained Goldstein. “I didn’t want to jeopardize that. I didn’t want to make people uncomfortable by going: ‘Hey, I reckon I could play Roy!’ It would suddenly be, like, I don’t think so man. Then everyone would still have to look at me every day.”
Although reluctant, Goldstein’s previous experience as an actor as a regular on shows like Derek with Ricky Gervais or as a guest star on Drunk History UK and Doctor Who made him qualified for the role.
Goldstein is also known in the UK for his indie superhero comedy SuperBob (2015) and he also was awarded Best Supporting Actor at the 2016 British Independent Film Award for his role in Rachel Tunnard’s Adult Life Skills (2016).
Finally, however, he worked up the courage to explain to not only Jason Sudeikis but the entire production team why it was imperative that he be at least in consideration once casting rolled around.
“I saved it until the very end of the writer’s room,” said Goldstein. “I didn’t tell anyone but I made a self-tape. I did five scenes as Roy. I emailed it when I left. I said: ‘Look, I’ve had a wonderful time. I’ve been thinking that I think I can play Roy. I think I really get it.
“But if this makes you at all uncomfortable or if this video is shit and if you’re at all embarrassed for me, then just pretend you never got it. I will never ask if you got it. We can still be friends.”
The decision was left up to Sudeikis and the team on the show but Goldstein didn’t have to wait long. No one else ever auditioned for the role.
“Thankfully, they couldn’t be bothered to look any harder,” said Goldstein, with a sardonic dry tone that mirrored Roy’s. “So I got the part.”
E-mailed Emmy nomination reaction statements can be pretty blah, but @brettgoldstein turns out to be a major exception pic.twitter.com/NI7cgaQKAF
— kateyrich (@kateyrich) July 13, 2021
Goldstein has taken the opportunity and run with it and has since received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
As a testament to the fact that he knew Kent was within him all along, when he accepted the nomination, he sent an email that read nearly exactly the way it would if Kent himself had sent it:
“Holy f***ing s***. What an incredible honor. Proper dream come true s***.
Every part of this show has felt like magic to me. To have the privilege to work on it, to get to make something with this incredible team and now for us to be nominated as a team is just too lovely. Extra special tahnks to Jason and Bill for inviting me to be part of this. What a thing…
As a cynical English guy I’m struggling to deal with all this wonderfulness. I’m not crying, you’re crying. F*** off! You’re crying. You ****.”
Experts including Lynn Elber from the Associated Press as well as Libby Hill and Ben Travers from IndieWire all believe that Goldstein will take home the trophy, per GoldDerby.com.
“It was truly a magical thing for me. In hindsight, I cannot express to you how passionately I felt that I had to be Roy. It was like a calling. It really was.”
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