How You Know These TED LASSO Stars from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and West End Stages
The 4th season of Ted Lasso is now streaming on Apple TV.
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Cherished television series Ted Lasso has just begun airing its fourth season, following a more-than-three-year hiatus, and fans are thrilled. Among the show’s fanbase are many theatre folks; did you know that the actors who populate the screen on Ted Lasso have quite a theatrical past as well?
Jason Sudeikis
In 2016, Ted Lasso’s titular star, Jason Sudeikis, made his New York theatre debut in the stage adaptation of Dead Poets Society. Sudeikis played the role that Robin Williams made famous on screen in the 1989 film: a professor who inspires his students to live and learn without limits. The play was penned by the film’s screenwriter Tom Schulman and directed by John Doyle at off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company. Playing one of the six teens who are affected by Sudeikis as Professor Keating was Bubba Weiler, who has since gone on to become a major Drama Desk-nominated playwright.
Hannah Waddingham
Hannah Waddingham has become more of a household name due to the success of Ted Lasso, where she plays Rebecca Welton. But Waddingham has been a major star of the stage, with other memorable screen performances, for decades. Her starring roles on London’s West End include originating leads in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game (a story about sports just like Ted Lasso) and in Spamalot. Waddingham re-created her turn as Lady of the Lake in Spamalot during the show’s Broadway run. In more recent years, she has graced the London stage in A Little Night Music, The Wizard of Oz, Into the Woods, and Kiss Me, Kate. She also hosted the Olivier Awards in 2023 and 2024.
Jeremy Swift
AFC Richmond’s Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins is played by Jeremy Swift. Swift has portrayed equally comedic characters on the West End stage in farcical productions like The 39 Steps and The Importance of Being Earnest. While currently mainly a screen actor, Swift got his start acting on stage in the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in productions at The National Theatre in London and in 2002, starring in the major hit Abigail’s Party.
Brendan Hunt
Ted Lasso’s beloved Coach Beard has been beloved on stage as well, where he has presented autobiographical one-person shows as well as plays he has written and starred in. The Movement You Need, about Hunt’s childhood and his love for the Beatles, played Steppenwolf in Chicago just this past spring and is aimed at Broadway. Hunt’s play The Art Couple received an all-star presentation at Symphony Space in 2024. The play is about an encounter between artists Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin and writer Neil Simon. It previously had a run in L.A. where Hunt’s play Absolutely Filthy had a celebrated run as well.
Phil Dunster
The one-and-only Jamie Tartt started out in theatre and has returned periodically to the stage since his film and TV career took off. Dunster gained attention and an Olivier nomination for his performance in Pink Mist, about military service in Afghanistan and the aftermath, which started out at the Bristol Old Vic in 2015. (Dunster had received his training at the Bristol Old Vic as well.) On major London stages, Dunster also appeared in The Entertainer in 2016 and Brace, Brace more recently in 2024. That same year, Dunster starred as Curly in an 80th anniversary concert presentation of Oklahoma! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Nick Mohammed
In the lovable role of Nathan Shelley, Nick Mohammed has won hearts on Ted Lasso. He has also won hearts on stage, appearing on the West End and beyond. In 2022, Mohammed was the center of a new take on A Christmas Carol called A Christmas Carol(ish) at the West End’s @sohoplace. Mohammed appeared in the show as his alter ego, Mr. Swallow, an ongoing character he’s developed for decades. As Mr. Swallow, Mohammed also appeared in The Very Best and Very Worst of Mr. Swallow on the West End and on tour as well as his newest piece, Show Pony.
Toheeb Jimoh
Ted Lasso’s bright-eyed and optimistic player Sam Obisanya is played by Toheeb Jimoh. Jimoh also brought this positive exuberance to his portrayal of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in London in 2023. The following year, he shared the stage with Ian McKellen on the West End in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. Earlier in his career, before his breakthrough moment with Ted Lasso, Jimoh also hit the stage in several productions. And just after the first season aired, he appeared in Nine Lessons and Carols, a piece at the Almeida that was devised by artists during the pandemic lockdown.
James Lance
Recurring Ted Lasso guest star James Lance plays the memorable journalist Trent Crimm. In the theatre world, Lance is well known for his many performances. In 2024, he played the title role in a new version of Uncle Vanya directed by Trevor Nunn. In 2017, he starred in the world premiere of the buzzed-about Of Kith and Kin. His dozens of other London theatre credits even include a musical: Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, Bill Russell’s beloved song cycle about the AIDS crisis.
Becky Ann Baker
As Ted Lasso’s mother Dottie, Becky Ann Baker had a memorable guest star moment on the show. The major player of Broadway and off-Broadway has also been acclaimed for screen roles over the years. Among Baker’s most notable roles on stage are Sara Jane Moore in the 2004 revival of Assassins and Jean in the 2011 Broadway play Good People. She also originated roles in Titanic (1997) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in which she made her Broadway debut in 1978.
Anthony Head
The late Anthony Head played Ted Lasso’s antagonist, Rupert Mannion, ex-husband of Rebecca Welton, in several episodes of the show between 2020 and 2023. The actor, best known for his role as Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also had a theatrical past. Between the 1980s and 2000s, he played leading roles in London in major productions of Godspell, Chess, The Rocky Horror Show, Peter Pan, and The Pirates of Penzance. Both Anthony Head and his brother Murray Head took turns playing leading man Freddie Trumper in Chess. He also starred in straight plays like the thriller Rope and most recently, a revival of Love in Idleness.
Photos courtesy of Apple TV
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