New Rumor May Give Fans Hope That Jason Sudeikis Will Be Returning to Play TED LASSO
Fans were pretty bummed to see the bittersweet ending of the massive hit Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. While the perfectly-written and acted show wrapped up sweetly with messages of friendship and hope, fans were just left wanting so much more than three seasons. It didn’t feel like enough time with these beloved characters! But the writers said they always had a three-season arc they set out to tell, and while they weren’t completely closed off to a spinoff down the line, there wasn’t anything in the works when this chapter closed, especially for the show’s titular star, played by Jason Sudeikis.
A recent report claims that we may actually see him return, though, possibly. The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg recently appeared on TV's Top 5 podcast (via CB), and claimed there could be more Ted Lasso after all, saying:
"Obviously, the finale set up a couple of different possible spinoffs. They've been mum about what's going on there. I've you know, heard through sources that Jason Sudeikis desperately misses that character. So, who knows if they're going to find a way to bring him back with a fourth season of Ted Lasso or if they're going to do another spinoff."
Of course he misses playing the eternally optimistic, wildly popular character. That makes sense. But if he is telling people how much he misses it, maybe there is a chance he’d want to return in some capacity. When the show ended, I reported that the series finale episode director Declan Lowney said that there were “quite a few clues” in the finale’s montage, including a hint at the possibility of Nate, Beard, and Roy running AFC Richmond, or Keeley pitching for an AFC Richmond women’s team she might run with Rebecca. While Ted’s story seemed finalized with his return home to be near his son, I’d be thrilled to see his story continue in the states.
Brendan Hunt, who played Coach Beard in Ted Lasso in addition to being the show's co-creator, recently took part in a Reddit AMA (via Deadline) and talked about the possibility of a spinoff. Hunt wrote:
"My pat answer, that is also 100% true: We don't know. We need a break and will take one presently. Nothing has been ruled out, everything is possible; but that includes the possibility that we're done. We won't know until we've sat with it for a while [and] decompressed.”
Recently, Nick Mohammed (Nate Shelley) spoke with Deadline and addressed the idea of a spinoff and what he thinks could be next for Nate, and when asked if he thinks about his character’s future, he said:
"No, no, I haven't actually. Well, occasionally I do. We always hear these rumors of a spinoff and I feel really wary of anything, because I feel like Nate's story in particular just feels so complete. I feel like we don't really need to see or know anymore. We just needed to just have those bits. I think we could leave it there, and I'd be very proud of it."
When asked if Nate could get married and have kids, Mohammed replied:
"I still don't think there's definitely unfinished business to a degree there. He probably still needs to go to Dr. Sharon [Sarah Niles] for a little bit."
He added:
"Ted's not going to come back, because he's not going to make that mistake. He's got to stay with Melissa and Henry. That's where his place is, and that's where he's happy. There's always going to still be fixing for the characters to do. They're not all of a sudden perfect. Ted's still probably got his demons in there. But it is such a cathartic ending. I think it would be a shame to kind of be like, 'And see you next year.' It's like, well, where are we starting off on that? You know, I'm sure if we do anything – who knows – I'm sure there will just be a sizable break between them, especially if we film another series. I don't know. But we'll see."
I don’t think we are ever going to see the whole group back together again. The show was a snapshot of a perfect moment in time with all those great characters together. But I’d be happy to see so many of their stories individually.
What do you think? Would you like to see Sudeikis return to the role?