THE Breakout
TED LASSO’S BRETT GOLDSTEIN
2021 WAS THE year when Ted Lasso — the Apple TV+ comedy starring Jason Sudeikis as an American soccer coach who transforms a small London club — became an Emmy-winning juggernaut. It was also the year when Brett Goldstein became the show’s fanfavourite. As Roy Kent, the gruff, sweary but sensitive ex-player-turned-coach, Goldstein — also a writer and co-producer on the show — is an utter joy, winning a Best Supporting Actor Emmy. When Empire catches up with the British star (he’s in Los Angeles, helping write Ted Lasso Season 3), evidence of how much Goldstein’s life has changed is everywhere.
How was Halloween for you this year?
Did you see any Roy Kents roaming the streets? It’s particularly mad over here because hundreds of people were dressed as Ted Lasso and Roy Kent. And the thing
I forget is that I dress like Roy. I don’t have any other clothes, I just wear black all the time. And I was walking down the street and someone said, “Is that a costume?” And now I realise I must look like the worst person.
This seems like the year when it all started to click for you.
It certainly is, but because I’m a terminal workaholic, my day-to-day is the same. But when I take a step back, it’s really surreal. It’s that thing of taking 20 years to be an overnight success. It’s fucking mad.
I’m now talking to Emmy-winner Brett Goldstein. You used to just be talking to Leicester Comedy Festival’s Best New Show Winner, Brett Goldstein.
Has it sunk in?
No. It was the second award of the night, which I was pleased about because I didn’t have time to worry about it. It’s real dream-come-true shit, but it’s a lottery. I’ve done things in the past that I thought were very good, but no-one saw them. And Ted Lasso was this show we felt was very special, but it was on a new streaming service and it was like, “No-one’s gonna watch this.” It’s proof that no-one can control any of it. No-one fucking knows.
You’re a writer on it, then you pitched to play Roy. It’s very bold that I did that, but in hindsight I truly felt it was a calling. I’ve never felt stronger about a part. I fucking genuinely felt that Roy Kent was in me.
He’s a guy who’s been a cog in the machine for a long time. Did you plug into that aspect of him?
At the beginning of Season 1 he’s given up. He’s getting older and going, “Have I missed it? Have I missed it?” I’ve always been a hard worker. And I was always very lucky in that I had enough work to pay my bills, from stand-up and through writing and acting jobs. But I was also getting older and I was in LA and it was pilot season and I read hundreds of pilots and they were all shit. And I was kind of feeling that maybe I’d missed my shot. And I had a real, genuine moment of acceptance. It felt like a release. Whatever you’re chasing, you don’t need it. And a week later [show creator] Bill Lawrence called me and said, “Do you want to come write Ted Lasso?”
You still do stand-up. Do you get Roy Kent heckles? I get a lot of Roy Kent chants. That seems to be the thing when I come to the stage. That needs to be dealt with fairly early, or things could get very weird.