Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein Took It Upon Himself To Star As Roy Kent
There was a lot to be disappointed by in season 3 of "Ted Lasso," but none bummed me out more than what they did with the show's best character, Roy Kent. Now, I'm not exactly mad about things they did to the character (though the ending of the Roy/Keeley relationship still baffles me). It's more about what they didn't do, and I don't feel like Roy was given all that much to do this season, particularly when it comes to his life outside of Richmond. The first two seasons gave Roy arcs that challenged him to grow as a person, and in season 3, he feels more just like a guy who works for the football club who occasionally gets funny lines to say.
It is unsurprising that for the first two seasons, Brett Goldstein won the Emmy for his performance as Roy. His ability to play the gruffest of outer shells with an overwhelmingly sincere heart inside always desperately trying to find light consistently provided the series' biggest laughs and its most emotional moments. It's a performance so good that he went from being a British stand-up comedian nearly no one outside the U.K. would have heard of to Kevin Feige immediately wanting him in Hollywood's biggest franchise (whether that cameo in "Thor: Love and Thunder" ends up bearing fruit is another story).
Brett Goldstein and Roy Kent are tied together to the point where people won't be able to see one without the other. It's an actor and character match made in heaven. What makes that marriage all the more magical is that it was never the intention of the show to cast the actor as Roy. He had to actively seek out the role, despite already being involved in the show.
In the writers' room
Brett Goldstein was not just an actor on "Ted Lasso." He was a writer as well. In fact, that was the first thing he was hired to do for the show. He and "Ted Lasso" co-creator Bill Lawrence had worked together on a pilot previously that didn't go anywhere, but he was on the radar — and was British — so he came out to Los Angeles to write on the show. While appearing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" back in 2021, Goldstein recounted how strange path on "Ted Lasso" from behind the camera to in front of it:
"I was a writer, and we were like five episodes into writing it, and I started to think, 'I think I'm Roy.' But I also thought, 'No one around this table writing thinks I'm Roy, because I'm sort spoken, and I love The Muppets. No one is thinking this.' And also, I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so when we finished the writers' room, I filmed five scenes as Roy, and I e-mailed it to them, and I said, 'Thanks for having me. If this is awkward or this is s***, pretend you never got this e-mail, and I promise I will never ask you about it. But if you like it, I think Roy Kent is in me, growling.'"
Because of that unsolicited audition tape, Brett Goldstein has won two Emmys for his performance as Roy Kent and is nominated for the third time, which he could very likely win again if I know the Emmys. That partnership with Bill Lawrence hasn't wavered either, as the two co-created the really wonderful show "Shrinking" together as well. He stays behind the camera for that one, though we can hope that maybe Goldstein makes an appearance in season 2.