If you’re anything like us, you’re absolutely dying for more of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso.” The show is silly, heartwarming, and Brett Goldstein, the actor behind AFC Richmond’s gruff captain Roy Kent, is as funny as he is charming.
While we patiently (or not so patiently…) wait for season 2 to drop, here are 18 things to know about Brett Goldstein.
1. Brett Goldstein was born in 1980 to a British Jewish family.
2. He has a sister named Tara Goldstein Carr, who co-founded School of Comedy in England. She has also made him an uncle a few times over.
3. Brett became a bar mitzvah at The Wimbledon Synagogue.
4. He attended the University of Warwick and received a degree in Film and Feminism.
Let’s take a second to reflect on how hot that is…
OK, onward!
5. After graduating from university, Goldstein briefly relocated to Marbella, Spain to work at a strip club his father bought during “a midlife crisis.” Brett later turned this experience into a stand-up show for the famed Edinburgh Fringe Festival called, “Brett Goldstein Grew Up in A Strip Club.”
6. He went on to perform at least three other solo shows at The Fringe. “The whole thing makes no sense and is utterly pointless,” Goldstein said of his experience there. “So you may as well just enjoy it.” You can watch his full Fringe interview here:
7. Goldstein’s first big break was as Tom in Ricky Geravis’ 2013 TV show “Derek.” In an interview he revealed he had some jitters about it:
“On my first day I was quite nervous – big fucking deal, working with Ricky Gervais, and it was my first big TV job – and I did take one, and he said, ‘Perfect! Let’s move on.’ I was like, what? He went, ‘It’s great, we got it.’ Don’t you want to see something else? And I think he said, ‘I trust The Force: it looked good, felt good, I liked it. I don’t want shitloads of options in the edit. I trust it, let’s move on.’ That’s really inspiring, and sometimes I’m like that and sometimes I’m not. At some point you do just have to trust, because you can drive yourself insane.”
8. In 2015, Goldstein wrote and starred in the British film “SuperBob” as SuperBob, superhero who’s also just a regular guy looking for love. While the film received mixed reviews, it helped launch Brett into the public eye. Take a look at the trailer below to see a rare, clean-shaven Brett:
9. Brett almost passed up on the opportunity to work on “Ted Lasso.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Goldstein explained that “Lasso” co-creator Bill Lawrence reached out to him about “Ted Lasso” on short notice. “I was like, I’ve got some gigs. I’ve got some stand-up shows booked. And he was like, you’re fucking mad if you turn this down for some stand-up gigs.” (Bill Lawrence, you were absolutely correct.)
Watch the whole, hilarious interview here:
10. He initially worked on “Ted Lasso” as a writer and executive story editor, and only later was cast as the character Roy Kent. In an interview with Vulture from last year he explains how it went down:
“So what happened was — and I still can’t believe it worked out, and I also can’t believe that I did it — basically, as we were writing it, I just started to think I could play Roy; I really get it. I really get this part. But I also knew it was not the sort of part I would usually play. I usually play a softer character. It’s probably my typecast up to that point. So I didn’t want to say anything because I thought, No one’s thinking of me for this role. And I didn’t want to embarrass anyone and make it awkward.
So on my last day in the writers’ room, the night before, I [recorded a tape], five scenes as Roy, without telling anyone, and then I sent an email to Bill [Lawrence] and said, ‘I’ve been thinking I could play Roy … but if this is embarrassing, you can pretend you never got this email, and I will never ask you about it.’ Then I got a message from him at like three in the morning, going, ‘Oh! This is good. Let’s see.’ And then very luckily it all went ahead.”
We’re so glad it did, Brett!!!
11. This 45 second supercut of nearly every time Roy Kent swears in “Ted Lasso” makes Brett “strangely proud.” So much so, he has retweeted it onto his Twitter profile.
roy kent being a mood for 45 seconds straight @brettgoldstein #tedlasso https://t.co/qFFNfQhn6P
— Dr Em (@tedslasso) March 19, 2021
12. At the same time Brett was writing on “Ted Lasso,” he was co-created the sci-fi show “Soulmates” with “Black Mirror” writer Will Bridges! This project has also been green-lit for a second season, but ICYMI here’s the trailer for season one:
13. Brett also finds time to host a podcast called “Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein.” According to Spotify, here’s what it’s all about:
“We are born. We die. In between we watch a lot of films. And some of these films shape the people we are. This is a podcast about those films. (And a bit about death.) Join comedian, actor, writer and swimmer Brett Goldstein and an extra special weekly guest as they go all the way into life and death by way of movies, to ultimately pick their Films To Be Buried With!”
Very deep. The 150th episode just dropped and it’s a conversation with English actor, podcaster, and recording artist Scroobius Pip. You can listen here:
14. When Brett isn’t acting, writing, podcasting, or stand-up-ing, he also supports social justice causes. In June 2020, he posted to his Instagram after participating in a Black Lives Matter march:
And in July 2018 he shared some thoughts after protesting President Donald Trump’s official visit to the UK:
15. Brett had a pretty ambitious pandemic project: making a reality TV show.
https://twitter.com/brettgoldstein/status/1240699455805915137
Yes, that’s right. He wrote and directed a 12 episode “Love Island” parody series. It’s a little odd, but Goldstein’s character does have shirtless moments, so if you need to click out of this article to go watch, we’ll understand.
16. He’s friends with Jodie Whittaker, the incredibly talented actress who is playing the first female Doctor in “Doctor Who.” Here she is hilariously accepting the 2016 British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor on Brett’s behalf:
17. He’s also won two Writers’ Guild Awards with the writing team for “Ted Lasso.”
https://twitter.com/brettgoldstein/status/1373923574378020865
18. In spite of all his success, Brett still has some yet-to-be-achieved career goals.”That’s my ultimate goal, is work with the Muppets,” he told Esquire. “I do that, then I’m dead.”
In case you doubted how much Brett loves The Muppets, check out this video of him performing “The Muppets Christmas Carol” in just six minutes. You definitely won’t regret it.
