‘Ted Lasso’: Sarah Niles Learned How to Ride a Bike to Play Dr. Sharon Fieldstone in Season 2
Sarah Niles learned how to ride a bike for her role in Ted Lasso Season 2. The I May Destroy You alum recently opened up about how she learned, what Jason Sudeikis said when she told him she didn’t know how to ride a bike, and why it was a “very Ted Lasso” thing to do.
Dr. Sharon Fieldstone is hired to help Dani Rojas in ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 2
In the premiere episode of Ted Lasso Season 2 something tragic happens on the pitch. AFC Richmond player Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) accidentally hits the team’s mascot, a greyhound named Earl, with a soccer ball during a match. Earl’s fatally injured which leaves a normally happy-go-lucky Rojas shaken.
No longer is Rojas scoring goals or saying “football is life.” Instead, he has nightmares about killing Earl and can barely kick the ball. So who does the team call? Sports psychologist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. She works with Rojas to help him understand that while “football is life” it’s also death. By the end of the episode, Rojas is back to himself and Leslie Higgins, as played by Downton Abbey’s Jeremy Swift, has hired Dr. Fieldstone. By the second episode — no spoilers — Lasso makes some headway with the doctor.
Sarah Niles learned how to ride a bike for ‘Ted Lasso’
When Ted Lasso viewers meet Dr. Fieldstone they learn she rides her bike to work. Upon landing the role Niles had a problem. She didn’t know how to ride a bike, the actor told The New York Times in July 2021.
“One of the funny things about this project was the bike riding. Before I started this job, I couldn’t ride a bike,” she said. “I don’t know what happened in my childhood. I’m going to have to seek some therapy about why I didn’t know how to ride a bike.”
Jason Sudeikis had a very coach Lasso reaction when Sarah Niles revealed she couldn’t ride a bike
It seems as if coach Lasso might be rubbing off on Ted Lasso star and co-creator Sudeikis because he wasn’t deterred when Niles told him she couldn’t ride a bike.
“I kind of told Jason, ‘Look, I can’t ride a bike.’ He’s like [voice shifts to mimic him]: ‘Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll get it. You’ll get it,’” she recalled.
Judging by the way Niles says Sudeikis reacted, the Horrible Bosses alum might’ve taken a cue from Lasso’s “believe” sign in the AFC Richmond locker room.
Sarah Niles says learning how to ride a bike is a ‘very ‘Ted Lasso’’ thing to do
Niles wasn’t necessarily concerned about having to learn how to ride a bike for Ted Lasso. It became a sort of crash course in all things Ted Lasso. “You get to learn something new. It’s all very Ted Lasso that you learn something new in life,” she said.
The actor described the experience of “just getting in the park and getting on the bike” as “wonderful,” saying she got help from family and friends. Niles went to a park close to her home to practice, and she could eventually say she knew how to ride a bike.
See Niles as Dr. Fieldstone in Ted Lasso Season 2. A new episode drops every Friday on AppleTV+ at 3 a.m. EST.
