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Ted Lasso Star Phil Dunster Addresses Jamie’s Dramatic Season 3 Changes
If you could travel back in time to 2020 — when the first season of Ted Lasso was first being released — and tell viewers that Jamie Tartt would become their favorite character by the middle of Season 3, not one of them would believe you. Jamie went and proved us all wrong. The one-time villain is now a caring, empathic leader for Richmond, consistently trying to better himself for the betterment of those around him. He showed some big signs of this growth in Season 2, but it’s really been the first half of Season 3 that has brought the biggest changes for Jamie.
Not only is Tartt being an active leader for Richmond, he’s also becoming close friends with former nemesis Roy Kent, going through extra training with the assistant coach in order to become the best footballer he can be. Following the newest episode of Ted Lasso, star Phil Dunster sat down with The Wrap to talk about Jamie’s evolution.
“Jamie has also changed dramatically this season. When we saw Zava turn up, we see Jamie react in a way that he would not have in season one,” Dunster explained. “Jamie is saying, ‘Guys, we’re a team, let’s play as a team. Why do we care about this superstar who’s turned up?’ when he once was the superstar and he [only] cared about himself, so we see how much he’s learned there. And now Zava is gone. He wants to go back to – I think it’s in episode three, he says, ‘We can work as a team. We can instill all of the lessons that we’ve learned over the last couple of years.’ He’s now being coached by one of the best players in recent history, and he’s also in a place in his life where he can be open to listen to that. It’s a heady cocktail in the footballing sense.”
In the latest episode, “Sunflowers,” Jamie also gets the chance to be a little silly and childlike. It’s a side of him we haven’t seen much of to this point, even though it’s the side of Jamie that Dunster relates to the most.
“It’s 100% the bit that’s closest to me,” the actor said. “All of the bravado and coolness is so far away from me but the bits where he’s a bit mushy and emotional is probably far closer to me. It’s a hard thing in a comedy to find the balance of what’s too much. To be able to do that with [Brett Goldstein] always feels like you’re never too far off the mark.”
What have you thought about Jamie Tartt’s transformation on Ted Lasso? Let us know in the comments!
