‘Ted Lasso’ Gains New Momentum with Three More Seasons
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Last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook got everyone buzzing about the return of Ted Lasso, and now there may be a reason to get even more excited, as the series is reportedly preparing for another three-season arc.
Apple and series producer and star Jason Sudeikis confirmed in March that Ted Lasso would be returning for a fourth season, and by May, it appeared that filming was set to begin this summer. Cook confirmed this in a tweet last week, sharing that production for the new season has officially kicked off in Kansas City.
Apple’s chief also shared a first look image showing Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins), Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Welton), Juno Temple (Keeley Jones), and Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) gathering around a table in a diner for what is likely part of the season four opener.
No details have been shared about the context of that scene, but with Sudeikis revealing that Ted will be coaching a women’s soccer team, the speculation is that the AFC Richmond gang has set out for the US to talk Ted into coming back across the pond.
With the popularity of Ted Lasso, we had to believe that there was more than one season planned, but according to Deadline, Apple and Warner Bros have locked in the key stars for what is supposedly another Sudeikis-led three-season arc.
The report confirms that Temple and Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard) have “closed their deals to return,” joining Waddingham, Swift, and Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent), the trio who gave us our first solid hint of Ted’s return when their options were picked up last August. Along with Sudeikis, these are expected to be the main characters for season four of Ted Lasso and beyond.
The sextet are believed to have three-year pacts, corroborating the speculation that Sudeikis has a new three-season arc in mind for Ted Lasso‘s new chapter.
Deadline
The first three seasons of Ted Lasso formed a complete arc — one that Sudeikis referred to as “this story that we wanted to tell,” — and it appears that seasons 4–6 will follow a similar development.
Those six core cast members may be the only familiar faces we see, at least regularly. It’s been established for a while that Phil Dunster (Jamie Tart) is unlikely to return due to conflicts with other series. We can still hope for a guest appearance or two, as Deadline reports that both he and Cristo Fernández (Danny Rojas) “have had conversations to come back for guest appearances.”
Interestingly, a deal for Temple’s return reportedly took the longest to work out due to the need to juggle her work on Ted Lasso with her starring role in another upcoming Apple TV+ comedic drama, The Husbands.
Strangely, there’s been no word about Nick Mohammed (Nate Shelley) — at least not from anyone other than Mohammed himself. He’s dropped enough hints over the past year to suggest he’s likely to return in at least a recurring role, but, oddly, none of the usual Hollywood insiders have mentioned his name anywhere.
Instead, Deadline has provided a list of who we can expect the new series regulars to be. With the focus now shifting to an AFC Richmond women’s team, many of the old faces will at least fade into the background in favor of a new crop of women footballers, including Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education), Jude Mack (Back In Action), Faye Marsay (Adolescence), Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey (Jurassic World: Dominion) and Abbie Hern (My Lady Jane). It’s unclear if these will all be players or if some will fill other roles, but they’re expected to make up the series regulars for at least the fourth season, if not beyond.
Meanwhile, after what was said to be “a wide casting search,” the producers settled on Grant Feely, who portrayed the young Luke Skywalker in Obi-Wan Kenobi, to take on the role of Ted’s son Henry. This is a recasting from Gus Turner, who played the role in the first three seasons, but the new seasons required an actor with a greater proficiency in soccer, suggesting that Henry may be coming along for the ride. The role is said to be “heavily recurring” in season 4, “with an option to become a series regular” in season 5 and beyond.
There’s still no word on a release date for Ted Lasso season 4, but with filming already underway, it’s possible it could be ready in time for Christmas. The first three seasons each took less than four months from the shooting of the last episode to the debut of the season opener, with season 2 coming in the fastest at only 6–8 weeks after filming concluded.
