Donald Trump Revealed to Be the Inspiration Behind 'Ted Lasso'
In a new interview, actor Jason Sudeikis revealed that one of the major moments of modern American political history had something to do with the development of a character called Ted Lasso, who eventually developed into the star of the series “Ted Lasso.”
Sudeikis said that in 2015, he was debating with then-wife Olivia Wilde how to adapt the character, who he had created two years before, in a new direction and perhaps take his career along with it, according to The Guardian. From slightly belligerent, the character became nice through and through.
“It was the culture we were living in. I’m not terribly active online and it even affected me. Then you have Donald Trump coming down the escalator,” he said, referring to Trump’s June 2015 announcement that he would run for president.
“I was like, ‘OK, this is silly,’ and then what he unlocked in people… I hated how people weren’t listening to one another. Things became very binary and I don’t think that’s the way the world works,” he said.
There was another reason for stressing nice, he said.
“And, as a new parent — we had our son Otis in 2014 — it was like, ‘Boy, I don’t want to add to this.’ Yeah, I just didn’t want to portray it,” he said.
Sudeikis said there is significance to AFC Richmond, the British soccer team the character of Lasso coaches.
“Richmond is, metaphorically, like a form of utopia. And yet it has to honor the fact that not everywhere else outside that utopia is utopian. And so, how would you deal with these conflicts?” he said.
“From back in 2015, when we were first thinking: ‘What is this thing?’ I just knew inside that this guy was real. He’s complicated. He’s not perfect. He’s going through stuff. But this is who he is. He actually is nice,” he said.
In speaking of the show’s end, he said, “What I would wish for anyone involved with the show is: don’t cry that it’s over, but smile that it happened.”
Sudeikis said he hopes to keep focused on being positive.
“Until I’m faced with being on a plane that’s supposed to go down or some biopsy brings back some bad news or some other major shift happens in my life or someone near and dear to me’s life, I have no reason not to be as optimistic as the character I’ve been lucky enough to portray for the last three years,” he said.
Sudeikis made a White House pit stop in March, but noted there was a difference between the mockups he had been in for skits and the real thing.
“It’s nuts, man. I haven’t even looked at the pictures of the White House yet because I want it to just live up there for a while as this amazing firework show rather than saying, ‘Oh, boy, why did I wear sneakers?’” he said after tapping his head.
“Haha, on the day I got a text from my mom saying, ‘Make sure you don’t wear sneakers to the White House.’ I was like, ‘Too late, Mom.’”
Sudeikis said the show will end after Season 3, according to Deadline.
“This is the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we were hoping to tell, that we loved to tell. The fact that folks will want more and are curious beyond more than what they don’t even know yet — that being Season 3 — it’s flattering,” he said.
“Maybe by May 31, once all 12 episodes of the season [have been released], they’re like, ‘Man, you know what, we get it, we’re fine. We don’t need anymore, we got it.’ But until that time comes, I will appreciate the curiosity beyond what we’ve come up with so far,” he said.
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