Jason Sudeikis was adamant Ted Lasso was over two years ago, declaring as the show’s referee: “The story is done”. But he soon reneged on that decision and has now explained why.
The hit Apple TV series, which has officially returned, was meant to end with the third season finale, which saw Sudeikis’s titular character return to the US after coaching a British men’s football team.
In 2024, he said on Fly on the Wall podcast that the show was over, adding: “It sounds like such a political answer, but it’s the truth. We only conceived these three series.”
open image in galleryHowever, Sudeikis told reporters, he started feeling “enthusiasm bubbling inside me” about a new season and decided to “kick the tyres and see whether” this excitement was “rippling out to everyone else”.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, though, as he had to “deal with a healthy amount of self-doubt and the concern of going back to the well”, which manifested in the form of internal questions: “Why now? Why do this again?”
After developing an idea, in which Ted is asked to coach Richmond’s women’s football team, he contacted all the cast members he wanted to return, and they said yes, “so off we went”.
Not all of the original stars are back for season four, leaving Sudeikis to make some “very difficult” phone calls.
“I didn’t want them to hear it on the internet,” the actor told The Hollywood Reporter. “And because I love those guys and we all went through something together.”
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Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple and Brett Goldstein are all back for season four, with Nickk Mohammed – who played Nate Shelley – playing coy on his involvement during a recent interview with The Independent.
Phil Dunster, who played Jamie Tartt, will also be absent from season four due to scheduling conflicts with his role in Steve Carell’s comedy Rooster, it was announced earlier this year. The actor told podcaster Zach Sang that leaving the show felt like “the end of school when you graduate”.
An official logline for season four, out August 5, reads: “Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team. Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.”
Ted Lasso is available to stream on Apple TV now.