#‘Ted Lasso’ Star Phil Dunster on Jamie Tartt’s Evolution, His Most Challenging Scene and the Show’s Lasting Legacy

On the first season of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso, Jamie Tartt, portrayed by English actor Phil Dunster, was introduced as a cocky, selfish football player who thought very highly of himself and, well, only himself. But by season three, his attitude had changed, and he’d become not only a lovable team player but someone who openly displayed his vulnerability and emotionality. Certainly, Ted Lasso aficionados appreciate the fact that the Mancunian accent Dunster donned for the character was further developed this past season, resulting in fan favorites like “It’s just poop-eh. Let it flow,” and “Holeh guacamoleh.” 

For audiences watching the third season — still unclear whether it’s the last, given that the show’s creators have repeatedly said they envisioned a three-season run for Jason Sudeikis’ title character — it was a refreshing full-circle moment to see Jamie’s arc change like this, and even Dunster didn’t quite see it coming (the cast didn’t receive all the scripts at the start of the season), although he’s extremely “pleased” with Jamie’s progression.

“His tendencies changed, but he was still fundamentally the same person,” Dunster tells THR. “He’s a really honest, direct guy. In the past, that was coming from a place of selfishness or conceitedness, and it meant that people around it didn’t like him. But we all know people who are really direct and honest, but it comes from a place of love. He always had the potential to be this guy, but it was shrouded in so much pain and confusion about himself and his understanding of how to get what he asked for. It’s a story of an emotionally immature person very slowly and awkwardly becoming a bit more mature.”

Dunster says his most challenging scene this season was the one in which he tells Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), with whom the evolving bromance was a central arc this season, that he’s lost his wings, i.e. his mojo. 

“I wanted it still to feel like it was honest, otherwise it’s just a silly bit, which is funny, but it doesn’t really come from somewhere. So I wanted it to feel like he was going through something, that the man was having a proper breakdown of sorts. It’s hard to do so that it feels like it’s with integrity,” he explains. “One of the scenes that I enjoyed the most, other than the bicycle scene with Roy, was with Leanne [Best], who plays my mum, who was so heartbreakingly good.”

When the show wrapped, the entire cast went to a pub in Richmond in southwest London, where the show is set. And ahead of the show’s May 31 finale, everyone in Los Angeles for the media tour watched it together. Dunster hopes that, whether or not the Ted Lasso universe will be explored further, the show will leave a legacy that people can turn to for comfort.

“It’s an opportunity to be nice. It’s an opportunity to be kind,” he says. “There are some great set-piece moments, but I think it’s a really good example of people being given the chance to be good and trying to be good but not always being good. It’s like a mirror being held up to the viewer, hopefully, is the sort of boring answer, but I just find it so fun. It’s a comedy, [but] people cry a lot when they see it.” 

This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.