It's not just Ted Lasso who has a dark side.
For those who may've missed it, viewers got a taste of Coach Ted's angry side, aptly named "Led Tasso," in June thanks to a new trailer for season two, which returns July 23 on Apple TV+. Specifically, a fiery Ted stormed onto the pitch and knocked over the water table before shouting, "Alright, you little turd birds, start touching your toes."
And, in an exclusive chat with E! News, co-stars and co-creators Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt revealed that they could relate to Ted's angry alter ego. For Jason, who plays the titular character in the critically acclaimed comedy, he certainly enjoyed letting loose for the laugh-out-loud scene.
"It did feel all right," the former Saturday Night Live star told E! News. "It was a fun thing to yell and play sort of that aggro energy, like in a heightened comedy space. But then also, because Ted doesn't swear, to try to come up with alternate ways of cussing out the players without using any cuss words, you have a tendency to get inventive, alliterative and rhyming usually helps too. Which is, I think, why we end up using turd birds right off the bat."
On his own Led Tasso persona, the Horrible Bosses actor went on to credit his character for keeping him in such a positive headspace. "I feel fortunate to get to play a character that really asks the most of anyone to stay that optimistic, that hopeful," he said. "And it really allows, you know, the brain chemistry to live in that space that between that internal influence and other external influences."
As he continued, the father of two—who he shares with ex Olivia Wilde—shared that "doing self-work has helped squash, or at least minimize, my personal Led Tasso."
He went on to call anger a secondary emotion, albeit a necessary one. "You got to work through it, talk through it, dance through it," he advised. "Whatever you got to do...But yeah, I think we all have some, you know, a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde and that we just want to keep that Hyde hidden."
Brendan, who plays the taciturn Coach Beard, expressed a similar sentiment as he noted that he got frustrated more in his "younger days," adding, "I have a Led Tasso that would react really negatively to like, say, an improv show that didn't go as well as I wanted it to."
However, since becoming a father in January, Brendan made it clear that his alter ego has since been "folded up and put in the mail" as "it's not a healthy way to be."
For more of Jason and Brendan, catch the exclusive interview above.
Ted Lasso season two premieres Friday, July 23 on Apple TV+.