Jason Sudeikis loves playing Ted Lasso, soccer's most relentlessly optimistic coach

Commercial-loving sports fans may remember several years back when Jason Sudeikis made a series of spots for NBC promoting the network’s English Premiere League programming. In those ads, Sudeikis played Ted Lasso, a twangy American football coach who’d somehow been made head coach of the Tottenham Hotspurs, and was dealing with some of the culture shock.

Now, Sudeikis has spun that character into a whole show, Ted Lasso, which premieres August 14 on Apple TV+. Alongside Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, Sudeikis has expanded the Lasso-verse in a way that’s both uplifting and charming, weaving in just enough “can they do it?” sports drama along the way.

The A.V. Club talked to Sudeikis about playing Lasso, who he says is the best version of himself after a few beers. That and more in the interview above.