Ted Lasso may have come to an end back in May for viewers with Apple TV+ subscriptions, but the actors are still making news as the 2024 TV schedule approaches. Hannah Waddingham starred in her own holiday special on the Apple streaming service that reunited many members of the Ted Lasso cast, and now Phil Dunster has been nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his role as footballer Jamie Tartt. The former Rebecca Welton actress wasted no time in celebrating Dunster, and now I can't stop thinking about her praise for the entire cast following Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas.
Hannah Waddingham Hyped Her Co-Star
First things first! Phil Dunster was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy category for Ted Lasso Season 3, which is his first Critics Choice Awards nomination. Hannah Waddingham, who won in the Best Supporting Actress category in both 2021 and 2022, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) with kind words for the star known for playing Jamie Tartt:
YYYYYYES @phildunster Fiiiiiinally getting all the love we know you’ve deserved from day one! Love you, love you and couldn’t be more deserved. @CriticsChoice https://t.co/y4YuOEbhy2December 5, 2023
Phil Dunster's Season 3 performance as Jamie Tartt earned him his first Emmy nomination alongside co-star Brett Goldstein as well. He's the only member of the Ted Lasso cast to be nominated for a Critics Choice Award for the third season. Hannah Waddingham didn't just celebrate Dunster on X, as she also posted in his honor on her Instagram Story:
Phil Dunster is up against some stiff competition for Best Supporting Actor in one of Apple TV+'s best shows, including Harry Winkler, who earned the nom for Barry's final season, and Harrison Ford for Shrinking. Dunster's co-star Brett Goldstein co-created Shrinking, which he had to balance with Ted Lasso.
Hannah Waddingham also celebrated Ted Lasso's Juno Temple via Instagram Story for her Critics Choice nomination in the category of Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, which she received for her role in Fargo. Seeing Waddingham give all the love to her former co-stars left me flashing back to her comments for Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas in the best way.
Hannah Waddingham's Praise For Ted Lasso Co-Stars
Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas featured some fabulous guests, which the leading lady described as "the cream of the crop." Among those were many of her fellow Ted Lasso alums, with Nick Mohammed, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris, James Lance, and Brendan Hunt contributing some dance moves (and laughs) while Phil Dunster dueted with her. Brett Goldstein, Juno Temple, and Jason Sudeikis appeared as well, although not on stage.
At a press conference for her Christmas special attended by CinemaBlend, Waddingham opened up about how her former cast mates reacted to what their roles would be. The leading lady explained that she "wanted the cast of Ted Lasso" and could only have "dreamt that so many of them were like 'hell yeah, we are in,'" then shared:
There literally was not one of them that went, 'Oh, I'm not.' They were all just like, 'Absolutely. When are we doing it? Oh God. Oh God, are you gonna ask me to dance? Are you gonna ask me to sing?' And I was like, 'Hold on, hold on.' Everyone was so keen outta the gate.
Ted Lasso may not have included many musical numbers – although the football players dancing to NSYNC's "Bye, Bye, Bye" and choreographing a number to The Sound of Music's "So Long, Farewell" on the pitch were certainly memorable – but the stars were evidently ready for whatever Waddingham wanted them to do on stage. Most of them contributed as her dancers, with Phil Dunster showing off the vocals that he never needed to use as Jamie Tartt.
For his part, Nick Mohammed spent a fair amount of the special hoisted into the air, and Hannah Waddingham shouted out his work for Home for Christmas:
And Nick Mohammed, when you're mentioning the flying, I said to Nick, 'Would you come and do this for me? Would do this for me?' 'Absolutely. What are we doing?' And I said, 'Well, we've got this idea that, you know, you would be trying to distract everyone so much that eventually we put a hook on your back and like have you like flying out into the fly floor.' And he went,'Yeah, and I should stay there for the entire performance just with my legs dangling.' And I thought, oh, you are so up for it. It's just great. [laugh]
Nate may have been in his villain era for Season 3 of Ted Lasso, but that definitely wasn't the case for actor Nick Mohammed when it came to helping Hannah Waddingham out for her holiday special. Whether or not the cast of Ted Lasso ever does get the matching tattoos that Waddingham pitched remains to be seen. The actress said "Chef's kiss" regarding her incredible dresses for Home for Christmas, and who could disagree?
You can find Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas streaming on Apple TV+ now, as well as all three seasons of Ted Lasso. The question of whether Ted Lasso could return in a surprise fourth season or via a spinoff is one that fans can only ask with crossed fingers for the time being.
