Award season is around the corner, and AppleTV+ hit series Ted Lasso will be dominating the Emmys with 21 nominations, including Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - 2023 for Phil Dunster. Dunster played AFC Richmond's bad boy striker turned-team MVP, Jamie Tartt, in an emotionally rich three-season arc. The "Ted Lasso" star, who fans know and connected to as Jamie Tartt, spoke to entertainment reporter April Neale and Idaho Today host Mellisa Paul about his exceptional season three that saw him in Amsterdam with his former nemesis turned father-brother figure, Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) in wonderfully scripted and acted scenes.
To hear Phil describe how he is reacting to all the "Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" accolades, with an Emmy nomination and a Critics Choice nomination that was announced before he spoke to Idaho Today, Dunster was grateful. "It really is a wonderful thing. And we feel very lucky, and it's been such a wonderful response, not just for lovely things like awards, but really, as you say about connecting with people and people seeing themselves or people and the struggles they know. The best thing about it is that you get to have those sorts of conversations with people, and then it opens up those conversations from us."
Before Ted Lasso, Dunster was more well known in British circles, starring as Lance Corporal Will Jensen on the Sky One series Strike Back, Tristan on Channel 4 series Humans, and Jamie Cole on the ITV series The Trouble with Maggie Cole. He was elated when he got the call for Lasso casting, and saw the potential for his character, the cocky striker Jamie Tartt, in the story. "Jamie was a character with the hallmarks of somebody who was kind of at rock bottom, particularly when we see him when he leaves the club and returns to Manchester. Rock bottom in the sense that his ego is at its highest and his sense of resentment is at its highest. Then, we see the moment with his dad in season one, and we suddenly understand why. And I think that that's the important thing. I think it's all too easy to make a character a ne'er-do-well, but I think it's showing the why, which is what people then care about. So, the seeds that they had sewn were there. And then they let it flourish."
The writers allowed Dunster's natural talent and his chemistry with the cast, especially Juno Temple and Brett Goldstein, to bloom with a perfectly balanced blend of heart and humor that saw Tartt become one of Ted's MVPs on the team.
In the third season of Ted Lasso, the newly-promoted AFC Richmond suffers some bashing as media predictions choose them to finish last in the Premier League, and Nate (Nick Mohammed) is in flux, working for Rebecca's (Hannah Waddingham) ex, Rupert (Anthony Head) at West Ham United. Kent (Brett Goldstein) stepped up as assistant coach alongside Beard (Brendan Hunt) as Ted (Jason Sudeikis) dealt with personal issues back home. Rebecca is set on defeating Rupert while Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates the boss's life at her swanky new PR agency. Through this, Tartt offers much-needed comic relief and heartfelt moments as he deals with his emotional healing and growth.
Jamie spent Season Two of Lasso repairing his relationship with his teammates as his friendship with Roy began. The trajectory for the Tartt character resonated with fans who loved the redemption story and the natural comedy that Dunster infused the role with, again especially in scenes with Goldstein's salty Kent. The Zava episodes kickstarted his goal to be the best player, and his unresolved love for Keeley was heartbreaking as she rejected both Roy and Jamie in season three, opting for a fling with her corporate boss, who invested in her PR firm. All through this, Jamie held his head up, did the work, showed up for training, and took Roy's mentorship seriously. He was there emotionally for his teammates through their struggles and challenges.
The big question fans still have is, will AppleTV+ invest in some spinoff where these characters live? Jamie's transformative journey is but one loose end in the show so far.
The Hollywood Reporter interviewed director Declan Lowney that Ted Lasso could have "kept going, but it had done its thing — the three-season arc, that was the deal, that was what [Sudeikis] wanted. But I feel there's something else. There will be other things." He added, "Everybody knew it was the end, but it's also the end for now. It will be two or three years before anything happens — if anything happens — so let's try and tie up all these stories properly."