Sarah Niles interview: ‘Ted Lasso’

“I had to learn to cycle,” admits actress Sarah Niles about joining “Ted Lasso” as a cycling psychologist. For our recent webchat she adds, “How the hell did I managed to get through life not cycling?’” 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 United Kingdom. For the 2021 Emmys, the show won seven trophies including Best Comedy Series. For this past second season Niles admits, “I loved the hospital scene. Jason was just making me laugh. He’s goofing around, he’s just so funny. Once he knows there’s an opening and your guard is down, he just keeps on going. It was really hard for me to shoot without corpsing, you know, cracking up.”

Niles joined the cast in Season 2 as Dr. Sharon Fieldstone, who is brought to the club to help counsel the players and other club members. Niles explains, “She’s so still to me. I’m a bit a bit of a goofball. I’m always wanting to goof around. To channel that kind of energy and that focus helped me to carry on with the story. It was wonderful to see how throughout the season she started to shift and change. You get to see her vulnerabilities. She’s pulled up so many walls in the same way that Ted has walls.”

While Sharon initially is on a different page to Ted, they ultimately form an endearing bond. Niles says, “I think they both teach each other that it’s okay to be vulnerable. To trust in that. I think vulnerability is such a powerful thing. We’re always told not to be sensitive, to always be strong. Success, success, success. She’s probably had to work so hard to be successful, she’s very intelligent. But also the idea of success is her shield. Within that the job, she has to be vulnerable. She has to know, ‘I can make mistakes as well and that’s okay.’”