Toronto-born actor takes life lessons from the Leafs
It’s not unusual for Will Arnett’s kids to find him in the family room around sunrise on a Saturday or Sunday morning, already hours into watching English Premier League soccer.
“They’re like, ‘Oh my god there’s Dad, like just in it,’ ” Arnett said.
A 4:30 a.m. kickoff is a wellknown plight for West Coastbased fans of English and European soccer like Torontoborn actor Arnett, who says a Sunday spent on the couch watching his favourite Premier League team, Liverpool Football Club, followed by his favourite NFL team, the New York Jets, is his happiest place.
That’s why Arnett, who previously appeared in “Arrested Development,” voices the title character in “BoJack Horseman” and currently hosts a podcast with fellow actors Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes called “Smartless,” partnered with streaming service DAZN ahead of the NFL season to help make sure his fellow Canadian sports fans “know that DAZN has them covered this season — no matter which sport or team they
follow, when and where they want it,” according to a release on Thursday.
DAZN will carry every NFL game through NFL Game Pass, as well as NFL RedZone. It also has exclusive rights in Canada to every Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Women’s Champions League and UEFA Europa League match.
“When I found out what DAZN was doing in Canada, I thought, ‘This is exactly what I would want,’ ” Arnett said.
Here is a little more of what
Arnett had to say about his connection to football of both kinds, his hopes for his two teams, his long-standing Maple Leafs fandom and getting back to Toronto to catch a game.
Canadians tend to think of the country as a hockey nation. What is your connection to the NFL and Premier League?
Growing up, I watched a bunch of NFL. It was a slow progression, being a Canadian boy and just being obsessed with the Leafs non-stop. Then started watching NFL on Sundays and you only got the games that we got through cable from Buffalo, so it would be Bills, Giants and sometimes Jets. It was through that that I was like, “Wait, I love this so much.” That’s where my love affair with NFL football started and then when I was about 20 I moved to New York and just became a full-fledged Jets fan. Way back when. Let’s not do the math, by the way. It was through a couple of friends, specifically my writing partner (Mark Chappell), who is an Englishman, that I started really getting into Premier League and European football. Once you start getting into the dynamics of this guy used to play here and this manager used to be here, once I got into the drama of it, I was hooked.
You’re a Toronto sports fan. Things are starting to rev up here at this time of year. What are you looking forward to on the Toronto sports scene this fall?
Well of course, you know I’m a lifelong (Maple) Leafs fan, and I think like all Leafs fans I’m looking forward to seeing what happens this year. We had another tough go of it in the playoffs and, I mean, it’s brutal. It’s really, really tough. I think it’s tough for everyone. I’m excited for people to see this “All Or Nothing” (Amazon Prime’s upcoming docuseries about the Leafs’ 2020-21 season, narrated by Arnett), which was a weird kind of punishment to have to narrate the season, after that. But I really love the team and I think being a fan of a team that gets close or that has these moments and then doesn’t make it, it’s really analogous for life, in the sense that you’ve got to keep picking yourself up.
What are your predictions for Liverpool and the Jets this year?
The Jets, they’re in a constant rebuilding as well, it seems like. They’re just constantly moving pieces around and trying to find that winning formula between a quarterback who works and a coaching staff. If there was a magic formula, everybody would use it so what is that thing? It’s obviously like a chemistry thing and they just haven’t been able to find that thing. Liverpool, you hear them kind of sniffing around about making moves in the transfer windows but they haven’t really done anything massive, like some of the other European clubs. I think they’ve been quite sensible in just sticking with this core of guys that they have, relying on Mo Salah or Sadio Mané ... they’ve got a really good chance of making a run. They just need to score more goals.
With live sports coming back, are you hoping to get to any games this season?
I hope so. I’m hoping to come back to Toronto pretty soon, because I haven’t been back in almost two years now. Obviously due to COVID, it’s just been more complicated. I’m hoping if I come back I will go. I also have to, for work, go over to the (United Kingdom) fairly soon so I’m hoping I’m going to make it up to Anfield and get in there and catch a match, which would be amazing.