In Apple TVโs โTed Lasso,โ the titular English football coach worships a hand-taped โBelieveโ sign like itโs scripture, simply cannot resist a folksy metaphor and thinks that a relentless stream of shortbread biscuits is the way to his bossโ heart.
For all of his quirks, Jason Sudeikisโ character Ted Lasso has taught the actor legitimate lessons about parenting, he told Willie Geist during the Aug. 9 episode of Sunday Sitdown.
โI think heโs a very sincere person, he accepts people where they are,โ Sudeikis, 50, said.
โItโs made me a better parent,โ he said. โI think thereโs just a level of accountability that I think we love puttinโ on the show.โ
After the Season 3 finale sent Ted back to Kansas City to coach his sonโs team โ a conclusion many viewers saw as the end of the showโs arc โ Season 4 brought him right back across the pond. This time, heโs coaching a newly formed second-division womenโs team.
In the new season, which premiered Aug. 5, Tedโs Lady Greyhounds encounter new challenges: sub-par facilities, less funding and skepticism toward women athletes.
Sudeikis acknowledged that โTed Lassoโ is, at its heart, a โsilly fun show.โ But still, its emotional resonance can carry real weight, he said.
โWhen a certain moment gets people and makes โem feel seen or it makes โem want to try or do something differently, it feels like a tremendous responsibility, โcause itโs bigger than me,โ he explained.
Indeed, beneath the laughs of the first three seasons, Ted and the showโs other characters navigate mental health challenges, experience divorce and learn about what it means to actually lean on one another. The new season addresses other salient topics including the struggles that many women in sports continue to face.
Sudeikis opened up to the TODAY host about why the show pivoted to focus on a womenโs team.
Production kicked around a few possibilities, he said, but nothing felt โas gooeyโ or โas juicyโ as the storyline teased in the Season 3 finale, when a pitch for a Richmond womenโs squad is first introduced.
The actorโs excitement for the showโs new twist was shaped in part by the women closest to him.
โI know how kick ass little girls are, having one of my own, but also, you know, growinโ up around a couple,โ he told Willie.
He also added: โBeing an older brother to two wise, funny, silly, authentic, heartfelt women, then-girls, now women โ is baked into the enthusiasm for doing this new season.โ