Why Jason Sudeikis finally agreed to come back to do Ted Lasso

The millions of dollars in fees paid by Apple are not the actor’s only motivation. He explains.

Three years after announcing the definitive end of the adventure, Jason Sudeikis is putting on the tracksuit of the most optimistic coach on television.

While he had long explained that season 3 was the natural conclusion of Ted Lasso, the creator and performer changed his mind. For what reasons?

From the outset, Jason Sudeikis promises that money has nothing to do with it. Dollars were never the driving force behind his decision. However, it is difficult to ignore the financial stakes surrounding this return. During season 3 of Ted Lasso, the actor would have received around $1 million per episode, with the possibility of earning even more if he agreed to extend the adventure. But he had refused to continue only to increase his fee, explaining that Ted’s story was over: “Frankly, it was not a negotiation tactic. The story was told. Ted went home to be with his son. I was not going to make Ted leave their life to justify a truck full of money. It made no sense to me…” he explains to the Hollywood Reporter.

His salary for this season 4 has not been revealed, but it is difficult to imagine that it was revised downwards for this return event… That being said, if the financial question is obviously part of the equation, the actor ended up finding a good creative reason and a new direction to give to the series.

After working for nearly five years almost exclusively on Ted Lasso, writing or rewriting every episode and carrying the creative weight of the project, Jason Sudeikis was exhausted. In the finale of season 3, Ted returned to Kansas to find his son, closing a loop that the actor considered closed. But a few months later, doubt set in. In early 2024, Sudeikis gathered the writers of Ted Lasso in Ojai, California, to think about the future. Several ideas for spin-offs are mentioned, notably around Roy Kent or Keeley Jones. But quickly, another possibility arises: continuing the main story with a new team.

The starting point will ultimately be an idea already outlined in the finale of season 3: the creation of a women’s team within AFC Richmond. An evolution which allows us to extend the universe without simply repeating what has already been told. “It’s not a spin-off. It’s more like adding a new piece to the puzzle,” summarizes Brett Goldstein, interpreter of Roy Kent and screenwriter of the series.

Furthermore, Sudeikis explains that the Ted Lasso phenomenon has ended up going beyond simple fiction.

Over the years, viewers have told him that the series has helped them through difficult times. And he himself admits that playing such a positive character had an impact on him. A remedy against the ambient gloom, in a way:

“It’s infectious to play someone who sees the best in others and isn’t angry at the world. That character saved me, too.”

Finally, for this fourth season, Jason Sudeikis changed his way of working, in order to be less crushed by the weight of the job. After a particularly trying season 3, marked by long nights of writing and numerous rewrites, he surrounded himself with Jack Burditt (30 Rock, Modern Family) as new showrunner in order to better distribute responsibilities.

Enough to motivate a return that was excluded only three years ago… Season 4 of Ted Lasso will be released this Tuesday in France on Apple TV (and also via MyCanal).