Jason Sudeikis

The screenwriter who didn't want to be one

Jason Sudeikis didn't land in New York to be the star of the show. In 2003, he walked into Rockefeller Plaza's 30 building with a screenwriting contract under his arm. He had honed his craft in the improv theaters of Chicago and Las Vegas, but his immediate destiny lay behind the scenes, not in front of the cameras.

That stint on Saturday Night Live lasted a decade.

He went from writing jokes for others to becoming the go-to face of political sketches starting in 2005. His impression of Mitt Romney gave him the space he needed for audiences to remember his face. But fast-paced TV comedy has a shelf life, and movies began knocking on his door with everyday, ordinary-guy roles.

The Hundred-Million-Dollar Sidekick

His move into mainstream movies happened quietly. In 2011, he starred in Horrible Bosses alongside Jason Bateman and Charlie Day. The trio formula worked at the box office because Sudeikis brought a good-natured cynicism that connected with the average moviegoer.

And the gamble paid off.

In 2013, he led We’re the Millers. The movie earned more than 270 million dollars worldwide. Sudeikis specialized in one very specific type of character: the middle-aged man caught in absurd situations who always has a quick comeback.

During those years he took part in independent projects such as Sleeping with Other People in 2015. In that film he explored a more vulnerable side that foreshadowed what would come years later. The actor was looking for more than the easy laughs of American prime time.

The bet on radical optimism

Nobody expected an NBC Sports ad promoting the Premier League to become a global phenomenon. Sudeikis created the Ted Lasso character in 2013 for a few short promotional clips. They were quick-hit pieces in which an American football coach tried to make sense of European soccer.

Seven years passed before the idea became a television series with real dramatic depth.

In 2020, Ted Lasso premiered on Apple TV+. The actor not only starred in it but also served as creator and executive producer. The series broke nomination records for a comedy in its first season. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021 and won the award again in 2022.

Filming for the third season in 2023 faced delays due to the complexity of the scripts and the change of locations in London.

Sudeikis chose to close that storyline despite industry pressure to stretch the success. Away from the spotlight of British football, the actor has kept a profile focused on producing original content. In 2021, he voiced the lead of Marvel's animated series Hit-Monkey.

His departure from Apple's flagship series left a gap in the platform's lineup. The development deal with Warner Bros. Television signed in 2017 remains the main framework for his business activity. In 2024, filming for his new projects remains under strict confidentiality agreements in Los Angeles.