Jason Sudeikis says former President Trump’s political rise played a part in shaping the title character the comedic actor plays on “Ted Lasso.”
When he first developed the role of fictional soccer coach Lasso, Sudeikis said in a Sunday interview with The Guardian, the character was “belligerent.”
But while dining with his then-partner, Olivia Wilde, in 2015, Sudeikis said he began considering reshaping the character he had originally created for a series of comedy sketches.
“It was the culture we were living in,” Sudeikis, 47, said.
“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,” Sudeikis told the publication, referring to the then-GOP White House hopeful launching his 2016 presidential campaign by descending a golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York.
“I hated how people weren’t listening to one another. Things became very binary, and I don’t think that’s the way the world works,” Sudeikis said.
“And as a new parent — we had our son Otis in 2014 — it was like, ‘Boy, I don’t want to add to this.’ Yeah, I just didn’t want to portray it,” the “Saturday Night Live” alum added.
“Part of the joy of getting to do this neat job I’ve got to do is the wish-fulfillment,” Sudeikis said. “Not just getting to play the characters, but also, what do you want to put out there into the world?”
Sudeikis, who played President Biden on “SNL,” visited the White House with the “Ted Lasso” cast in March for a discussion on mental health.
The performer said he hasn’t yet glanced at photos from his White House visit because he wants the moment to “live up” in his mind “for a while.”
The day he touched down in Washington for the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he said, “I got a text from my mom saying, ‘Make sure you don’t wear sneakers to the White House.’”
“I was like, ‘Too late, Mom,’” Sudeikis quipped.