Jason Sudeikis Reveals How Trump Inspired ‘Ted Lasso’

etcanada.com:

“Ted Lasso” is in the home stretch as the critically acclaimed Apple TV+ series prepares to complete its three-season run at the end of the month.

In a new interview with The Observer, star Jason Sudeikis reveals how Donald Trump and his political ascendancy proved to be the unlikely inspiration for the award-winning series. READ MORE: Jason Sudeikis Says The Final Day Shooting ‘Ted Lasso’ Brought Out ‘A Lot Of Tears’ As Sudeikis recalled, back in 2015 he and then-partner Olivia Wilde were discussing how he could revive the Ted Lasso character, first introduced in 2013 in a series of NBC Sports promotional spots for the network’s coverage of Premier League soccer.

According to Sudeikis, his initial portrayal of the character was “belligerent,” but the emerging political atmosphere enflamed by the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump inspired him to flip it upside down. “It was the culture we were living in,” Sudeikis explained. “I’m not terribly active online, and it even affected me.

Then you have Donald Trump coming down the escalator. I was like, ‘OK, this is silly,’ and then what he unlocked in people… I hated how people weren’t listening to one another.