Phil Dunster Talks Favorite Moments from ‘Ted Lasso’ and the Evolution of Jamie Tartt [Interview]

For actor Phil Dunster, part of the fun of playing Jamie Tartt on Ted Lasso included people thinking he was “great at football” and realizing his pre-teen dream of having frosted tips in his hair.

More significantly, though, what he enjoyed the most about playing Jamie Tartt was the character’s journey of self-discovery.

I recently spoke with Dunster about the evolution of Jamie Tartt on Ted Lasso and his favorite moments from the series. (You can watch the full interview below.)

“I suppose the thing that I really appreciated and enjoyed about Jamie’s journey was that it wasn’t, I’d say, that Jamie necessarily changed,” Dunster said. “Jamie didn’t really know how to change. He tried to at times, but I think that really the thing that changed was the decisions that he made.”

“Jamie was trying to be nice, but it didn’t work. Jamie was trying to be a passer of the ball, and it didn’t work. He was taught that he had to be himself, but it was just the fact of making better decisions.”

“And he was taught how to do that by the people around him. He’s taught to listen by Keeley; he’s taught to be a team player by Roy Kent. Well, I suppose really to be a team player by Ted, and then to be a better player by Roy Kent.”

Dunster also shared some of his favorite moments from filming Ted Lasso.

“I really enjoyed the scene where we all stood around the oil drum, and we’re throwing stuff in it,” he said. “That was a really special time.”

“The scene with Jamie’s dad was a really special thing to film because it was at Wembley, which is the home of football, and it was a big moment for Jamie. But really, anything in Amsterdam was a dream come true for me.”

“Also, any time that Jason has one of his big speeches,” Dunster added. “Just listening to him, and also knowing that this is a special moment.”

Watch the full interview with Phil Dunster:

One memorable part of the Amsterdam episode Dunster mentioned (Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 6), of course, is when Jamie attempts to teach Roy Kent how to ride a bike. Dunster shared some of what went into filming that scene. 

He said the part where Jamie is pushing Roy along on the bike held some inspiration from Big Train, a British TV Sketch show, as well as some influence from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

“They let us sort of improvise some of it. It’s always [overseen] by Joe Kelly, or Brenden Hunt, or Jason Sudeikis, who were the masterminds, but every now and then, they’d be like, ‘Great, now you just play a bit.’ And that was a really special thing to do,” Dunster said.

“It was also at like 4:00 am. And I was literally falling asleep between takes; I was so tired,” he continued. “The other thing I remember was that it was all in one shot, all in one take, where Jamie tells Roy about the first time he came to Amsterdam. And we had to get all of that speech done all at one time, because we only had so many lights to light the way.”

“It was also freezing, and we also had to stay really, really close to each other. So it was all quite tricky, but it was great fun.”

Jamie Tartt’s most pivotal episode in Season 3 was “Mom City” (Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 11). 

“That episode, Jamie has a lot to do,” Dunster said. “I enjoyed him going through this rollercoaster. I enjoyed scenes that I shot, none more so than with Leanne Best, who plays Jamie’s mom. She is just incredible, and she brought everything right from the first rehearsal, and I suddenly learned so much about Jamie, and I learned so much about my choices in performance, just doing that with her.”

There’s also an emotional, yet funny moment between Jamie and Roy, where Jamie bursts into tears. Dunster recalled filming that scene and what made it “tricky.”

“I think if it feels like it’s going for the laugh too much, it will feel a little bit — the audience will feel a little bit cheated. It’s not honest; it’s not real,” he said. “But still, it’s not the emotional peak of the whole thing. Jason had a heavy input in that. That’s his comedy instincts.”

Dunster also shared his reaction to the finale episode.

“I think they did a really good job,” he said. “I think that I would feel cheated if they won. Because that’s not the story. The story is that life is messy and that it’s not a romantic novel. People don’t walk off into the sunset. Sometimes they do, but it’s not like, ‘And then they live happily ever after.'”

“But also, there’s a great culmination to so many of the storylines, and there’s also — it is clever what they do in terms of leaving some potential question marks.”

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Ted Lasso is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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