Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham of ‘Ted Lasso’ on why their characters’ friendship matters

It seems perhaps counterintuitive to say that a TV series about a men’s soccer team in England is also the source of one of the best female friendships on television.

Especially when you consider that Keeley Jones, played by Juno Temple, and Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham, at first appeared to not have much in common, with Keeley the free-spirited girlfriend of one of the footballers and Rebecca the buttoned-up owner of the club.

But Temple and Waddingham say that friendship has become one of the most precious things about their time on “Ted Lasso,” as well as a touchstone for viewers.

“Portraying a woman who really cares about women is something that’s really important to me and something that I think is really important to put out there, that women don’t have to be put against each other,” Temple said in a Zoom interview.

“In fact, female friendship is one of the most profoundly important things ever. And that’s something that I definitely have a lot of girls talk to me about and that means a lot to me.”

The friendship is back in full force — as are the other relationships that make “Ted Lasso” the popular, uplifting phenomenon it is — when the series returns to Apple TV Plus Wednesday for its third and likely final season.

Waddingham, taking part in a separate Zoom Q&A, said the show’s writers have allowed her and Temple to “create that gorgeous Keeley-Rebecca vibe … to really carve out these two women as people that we want everyone to be encouraged to be like: to look out for each other but to also very much call each other out.

“(Y)ou just don’t see it very often. You’ll see broad strokes of relationships with women, but you don’t get to see that detail,” she said.

It’s a product of a “staunchly feminist” writers’ room, Waddingham added, one that includes women alongside series creators Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, showrunner Bill Lawrence and writer/actor Brett Goldstein.

It “has made me realize how much in other things I’ve constantly been fighting for the woman’s voice to be heard, whether it be my age group, kind of mid-40s, or Juno’s age group, as Keeley in her 30s,” Waddingham continued. “You are lovingly nurtured in whatever demographic you’re in. And that is a very unusual thing.”

“Ted Lasso,” of course, makes the case for nurturing relationships in general.

It’s about an American football coach, the eponymous Lasso (Sudeikis), who comes to England to manage the AFC Richmond club knowing nothing about European football, a.k.a. soccer. Although he’s derided at first as a “wanker,” Ted’s kindness and optimism eventually inspire everyone around him to be better versions of themselves — well, almost everyone.

The second season ended with kit-man-turned-coach Nate (Nick Mohammed) betraying Ted and leaving Richmond for the rival West Ham United club, owned by Rebecca’s supercilious ex-husband.

Where that conflict goes in Season 3 remains to be seen.

The cast members weren’t saying during the Zoom Q&A and, though I’ve seen the first three episodes, my lips are sealed too.

“There’s people who love each other. There’s people who apologize. People kick the ball around. Everything we did before is back but in different shapes,” joked Hunt, who also co-stars as Ted’s fellow American, Coach Beard.

Also up in the air: how AFC Richmond fares on the pitch now that it’s back in the prestigious Premiere League; and Keeley’s and Rebecca’s professional and romantic endeavours.

Former model Keeley is now running her own PR firm, something Temple said wouldn’t have happened without Rebecca’s encouragement.

Rebecca, Waddingham said, “is fighting for her boys” in Season 3. “We see feisty Welton coming out a little bit this season, which I love.”

As for the fate of Keeley’s relationship with Roy Kent (Goldstein), or whether Rebecca will resume her romance with player Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh), the actors wouldn’t say. But no matter what happens, Sam and Rebecca will always care about and wish the best for each other, Jimoh said.

If that sounds rather sentimental, well, “Ted Lasso” is a show that routinely makes you laugh and cry, and the actors wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The big message is staying open, you know?” said Jimoh when asked what lessons he and the others have learned from the series. “I think it’s hard, especially now … everything seems very cynical … I think my thing is, like, trying to take on the lessons of the Lasso way and the AFC Richmond way, and even the Sam Obisanya way.”

Waddingham concurred.

“Treat others as you would wish to be treated. Go and find someone if they’re closed off … I don’t mean to sound cheesy, but trying to live the Lasso way has very much been a part of my life since I was in this gaggle of people.”

“Doing something that you give a damn about with people that you give a damn about every single day, if you can find a way to do that … I think your life is richly rewarded,” added Sudeikis.

Goldstein chimed in: “Brendan always makes fun of me because I say this show is done by magic and he’s like ‘We work very hard.’” Goldstein agreed that everyone does work hard, but “everyone is (also) putting in this energy of (being) very excited to be here, very grateful, very loving of each other. And I do think that may be why people like this show … It’s magic.”

That magic has translated into 11 Emmy Awards, including back-to-back wins for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor for Sudeikis and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Goldstein. Waddingham won Supporting Actress in 2021, while Temple, Hunt, Mohammed and Jimoh have all been nominated.

“Watching my co-stars give these extraordinary performances, they are so beautifully nuanced and so exquisitely crafted (and) I’m so proud of them,” Temple said. “I love seeing the team and how they work together, and how the coaching also ends up being good life lessons. And I also think in Season 2, it was really, really important and really special how it delved into mental health and anxiety and panic attacks, and things that people maybe don’t talk about as much as we really should.”

Clearly the teamwork extends far beyond the fictional locker room.

And if it turns out there’s no more “Ted Lasso” after this season, Temple expects the actors will maintain their close connection. “We’ve got a really good, big group on WhatsApp.”

Debra Yeo is a deputy editor and a contributor to the Star’s Entertainment section. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @realityeo

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