Brett Goldstein interview: ‘Ted Lasso’

“There’s no part of me that takes a second of it for granted,” confesses Brett Goldstein about being on “Ted Lasso.” For our recent webchat he continues, “All of us will be very sad when it ends. This is a once in a lifetime gig. I take it very seriously in terms of not wasting it. I’ve got this… opportunity to do this amazing character. You get a real chance to explore it. This is the longest I’ve played a part and it’s just… great. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Having finished its second season, “Ted Lasso” tells the story of the optimistic Ted (Jason Sudeikis) continuing to coach soccer team AFC Richmond in the UK. Last year, “Ted Lasso” won seven Emmys including a win for Best Comedy Series and for Goldstein as Best Comedy Supporting Actor. As well as acting, he writes on the show. He explains, “In the writers’ room, you spend all day talking and everyone ends up oversharing and talking about their deepest darkest stuff, and that will end up in the show. Then that kind of happens with the cast as well.”

Goldstein plays Roy Kent, the determined and angry captain of Richmond. He admits, “I think that this show is made by magic. I constantly feel like we have to be very, very careful not to disturb that magic.”

He elaborates, “It comes from this spirit of collaboration. Anyone can pitch something or say something, and if it’s the best idea, then that’s cool. It doesn’t matter who you are. There’s a thing that is part of season three that came from Rich the focus puller. He just said, ‘what about this thing?’ and I was like, ‘that’s a… brilliant idea.’ And it’s in the show. Everyone involved really cares and you make that by making people feel valued.”

In the second season, Roy struggles with his post-football playing career. In an uplifting scene the former captain storms out of his media job to rejoin Richmond as assistant coach. The actor adds, “That long sequence of trying to get across town took about a week to shoot. It really was this sort of marathon to get to the pitch. When I finally arrived and walked along the pitch there was the crowd doing that chant. I’d had five episodes not with the team, not with the usual cast, and so that was another… wonderful moment. I was buzzing. That was really something. That felt very real.”