Jason Sudeikis is an Executive Producer, Writer, Telecast writer, the main regular actor featured in the Apple TV+ series, Ted Lasso, and played the titular character Ted Lasso. He originated the role as an originally stand-alone comedy sketch from NBC Sports.
History[]
Daniel Jason Sudeikis was born on September 18, 1975, in Fairfax, Virginia, to Kathryn Sudeikis (née Wendt), a travel agent at Brennco and president of the American Society of Travel Agents, and Daniel Joseph Sudeikis, a vice president of business development, both originally from Illinois. Jason has two sisters, Kristin and Lindsay. His father is of Irish and Lithuanian descent, while his mother has German and Irish ancestry.
Career and Awards[]
Acting and Comedy[]
Sudeikis famously comes from a sketch comedy background, where he rose from both J.T.S. Brown and Chicago's Second City to eventually join the writing staff of Saturday Night Live as a writer. After a couple of years mostly behind the cameras, he eventually became one of its stars from the middle of the 2000s until about 2013. Though known for a number of roles, one prominent one was that of Joe Biden, particularly during Biden's vice presidency.
Sudeikis had a recurring role on the series 30 Rock (2007–2010), appearing in a total of 12 episodes. He played Floyd DeBarber, a love interest of Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon. Sudeikis last appeared in four episodes towards the end of the show's fourth season in 2010. In motion pictures, he first gained notoriety for the early 2010s franchise, Horrible Bosses, but has since starred in films like Sleeping with Other People and Downsizing.
Ted Lasso[]
Original NBC Ted Lasso
The first “Ted Lasso” commercial came out on 2013. The character was created for a fictional short film for NBC Sports when it was starting to show the Premier League in the United States. In the video, Sudeikis plays the American football coach hired to be the new head coach of the Tottenham Hotspurs soccer team. And just like in the show, he doesn’t know anything about soccer. Basically, it’s a perfect caricature of someone who knows everything about American football but nothing about the football the rest of the globes adores.
In the Apple TV+ series, Sudeikis and co-star Brendan Hunt make coaches Lasso and Beard examples of good, healthy leadership in sports. They also encourage the AFC Richmond players (a fictional team) to be better people, not just better players. Hunt also co-starred in the original commercials. Sudeikis and Hunt reprised their roles in “The Return of Coach Lasso” in 2014. Not long after, Scrubs, Spin City, and Cougartown creator Bill Lawrence was the one who told the actors Ted Lasso could be a TV show.
Ted was inspired by two important figures in Sudeikis’ life. One of them looked like Ted, and both of them talked like him:
“It was based on a few people: my father, that’s where the mustache comes from and him being real loquacious. And then, my high school basketball coach, Donny Campbell — a fellow from a small town in Kansas who spoke in those little aphorisms, like ‘Sudeikis, you look more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.'”
Another person who helped make Ted Lasso happen was Olivia Wilde, Sudeikis’ ex-fiancée. The couple met at an SNL finale party in 2011 and share two children, Otis and Daisy. Wilde encouraged him to take Lawrence’s suggestion to make Ted Lasso a series back in 2014 or 2015. But he had to figure out why Ted would make such a huge move from the U.S. to the U.K. to coach a sport he didn’t know, until he decided that "Ted is having a marital problem and that is the reason why he moved to UK." Sudeikis and Wilde’s breakup did not inspire Ted Lasso. But Wilde’s encouragement during their relationship did help make it happen. And it all culminated in the comedy is sweeping the Emmy nominations.
Emmy Awards[]
Jason Sudeikis won best actor in a comedy series for Ted Lasso at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Upon accepting his award for portraying the titular character in the Apple TV+ series, Sudeikis remarked that it has been a “heck of a year.” Noting that Ted Lasso is really about family, mentors and teammates, Sudeikis said, “I wouldn’t be here without those three things in my life.”
He thanked his parents, sisters and children, as well as mentors at improv comedy troupe Second City and Saturday Night Live. Sudeikis also gave a special thank-you to co-creators Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly and Bill Lawrence, as well as the “incredible” cast and crew of the comedy series. The actor beat out fellow nominees Anthony Anderson for Black-ish, Michael Douglas for The Kominsky Method, William H. Macy for Shameless and Kenan Thompson for Kenan.
Backstage, Sudeikis shared a personal takeaway from the show so far: “I think I’ve learned that optimism is a better way to go, even though pessimism can sometimes get an easy laugh.”
In August 2024, it was announced that there will be Ted Lasso season 4. Deadline reported that Hannah Waddingham has accepted the role of Rebecca Weltonagain. After securing the actress, the studio is expected to start reaching out to Ted Lasso cast members with SAG-AFTRA contracts whose options had expired, so they will need to make new deals. There is no words whether Jason Sudeikis would return to the show.
White House Visit[]
When the Ted Lasso cast got invited to visit the White House, he and co-stars Hannah Waddingham, Toheeb Jimoh, and Brendan Hunt made an appearance during a press briefing, where Sudeikis spoke about mental health and co-star James Lance made a fun cameo as fictional Independent reporter Trent Crimm.
They spoke briefly on the importance of fighting the stigma that’s often associated with seeking help for mental health problems — a theme of the show. Jason Sudeikis encouraged everyone to make sure to check in regularly with family, friends and neighbors who may be struggling and ask how they’re doing.
After the briefing, Sudeikis and his castmates met behind closed doors with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, according to the White House. The White House on Monday touted Biden’s designation of nearly $500 million to increase capacity for the national suicide hotline and to help connect local callers with local responders. In 2020, Congress approved transitioning the 10-digit suicide hotline to three simple numbers — 988.
Personal Life[]
- According to The Hollywood Reporter’s sources, Sudeikis is among the key players who recently received a sizable pay increase for its third season.
- He was in a relationship with American actress and filmmaker Olivia Wilde from 2011 to 2020, and became engaged in January 2013 but never married. They have a son, born in April 2014 and a daughter, born in October 2016. She was the one who encourage him to do Ted Lasso. Her real last name is the inspiration for Declan Cockburn.
- Jason's maternal uncle is actor George Wendt, known for his role as Norm Peterson on Cheers. His picture appeared in one of the episodes.
- Sudeikis was born with anosmia, leaving him with no sense of smell.