Ted Lasso might be the most feel-good show on TV – but it’s not always like that when the cameras aren’t rolling.
Hannah Waddingham has revealed that she often clashes with creator Jason Sudeikis, who also plays the title character in the Apple TV+ series, due to his sudden changes to the script.
“There’s always going to be a bit of give and take within a scene, because of the nature of how Sudeikis works,” the British actor, who plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton, revealed in a new interview. “He hears it in the room, and then we tweak.”
She told Variety: “With that boy, you’ve got to roll with the punches. He and I have an ongoing love-hate relationship [because] he changes it last minute.”
Waddingham has regularly praised Sudeikis, with the pair forging a friendship after co-starring in the series. Waddngham has hailed the actor as her “biggest champion”.
Reflecting on being cast in the role in an interview with The Independent, Waddingham said: “I didn’t think for a second it would go my way. I thought they would go for one of the ‘famouses’, as I like to call them. So when I auditioned for Rebecca, I was very relaxed.
“They flew me over to meet Jason for an old-school chemistry read. I remember saying to him, ‘It’s been really lovely meeting you – whoever gets it, all power to them. I wish it was me, but let’s see.’ I just hung up my boots with it, ’cause I’m quite fatalistic about these things. Cut to me getting the role and thinking, ‘Phew!’ because if anyone else had got it, I would have been really pissed off.”
Ted Lasso, which follows an American football coach who is hired to manage a flailing British soccer team, is returning for a fourth season this summer.
The new episodes will bring back a majority of the original crew, including Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, Brendan Hunt, and Jeremy Swift.
At the end of the third season, Ted flew back home to Kansas, where his ex-wife and son remained when he moved to London in the debut season. Meanwhile, Roy Kent (Goldstein) stepped in as assistant coach alongside Coach Beard (Hunt).
The next season will reportedly pick up where season three left off, with the first episode set in Kansas City.
Over the course of its initial run, Ted Lasso received 61 Emmy nominations in total and won 13, with Sudeikis winning Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022.
Speaking recently about the return of the beloved show, Waddingham, who plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Welton, told Variety: “It feels like it was the most beautiful, beloved dog that was buried, and now we’ve exhumed it, and I am here for it.
“I was hankering and hankering and hankering and hankering to see where Rebecca had gone, where she was going to. She’s my girl. She’s in my bloodstream, so I’m thrilled that it’s been exhumed,” the British actor gushed. “I can’t wait to get involved with that and put my penneth in and go shopping for her looks.”
