Jason Sudeikis’ ‘Ted Lasso’ Character Was Partially Inspired By His Time in Amsterdam ‘Taking Mushrooms and Living an Egoless Existence’
Jason Sudeikis’ wildly popular Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso begins its second season on July 23. The highly anticipated TV show revolves around its titular character and his experiences as the coach of AFC Richmond, despite having no experience coaching soccer.
Sudeikis originally portrayed the character while doing a series of promos for NBC during Premier League competitions several years ago. The performance was so entertaining that Ted Lasso became an original series, which has garnered critical acclaim.
Even though Ted Lasso is entirely fictional, Sudeikis recently acknowledged that the character was inspired by several of his real-life experiences, including psychedelic mushroom trips while he lived in Amsterdam.
Jason Sudeikis sees his ‘Ted Lasso’ character as an alternate version of himself
Sudeikis revealed the connections between himself and his Ted Lasso character during a recent interview with Indie Wire.
“Probably the version of myself when in America, on a bright sunny day, after having a couple of beers … on someone else’s boat, on some pontoon boat on some body of water somewhere,” he said when asked where the inspiration for Ted came from. “Where you’re just stress-free and filled with joy and the sun shining on your face, and you can just kind of see things at a large 30,000 feet view.”
Ted Lasso is partially inspired by Jason Sudeikis’ times in Amsterdam on magic mushrooms
Going deeper, Sudeikis also admitted that part of his character is based on experiences he had while living in Amsterdam earlier in his career.
“And then also, certainly during my time when living in Amsterdam, working at a theater called Boom Chicago and taking mushrooms legally,” he said. “And living an ego-less existence where all of the small things, you don’t sweat ‘em anymore. You just kind of see things from a soul level.”
Lastly, he added that another portion of Ted Lasso’s personality features qualities that he hopes to one day have himself.
“Probably a combination of those two things, and then the third version being the version I’d like to be of myself when I grow up, should that ever happen,” he said.
Jason Sudeikis enjoys taking on new perspectives through his character
Actors often acknowledge that playing a character gives them the freedom to explore new ways of thinking and perception. Sudeikis confirmed that being able to take on new attitudes toward the world has been one of the biggest benefits of playing Ted Lasso.
“I think getting to view the world through Ted’s eyes,” he said. “Being able to not take everything so personal and accept the fact that everybody’s going through their own thing.”
He hopes viewers takes something away from ‘Ted Lasso’
As the second season of Ted Lasso approaches, Sudeikis hopes viewers will be able to use the show as a temporary break from whatever they might be going through in life.
“To the folks at home who watch TV just to escape or something like that, I hope we give them a little bit of, you know, make them laugh. Make them laugh, make them feel the way films and television sort of helped me through life,” he said.
Ted Lasso returns to Apple TV+ on July 23.
