Emmy-nominated actor Sam Richardson recently spoken about playing the role of Ghanian billionaire Edwin Akufo in the second season of Ted Lasso, one of Apple TV+ biggest series since its release in August 2020. While speaking to Variety, Richardson dove into what it felt like to play a role against type for him in the series, as a billionaire who seeks to have his way in acquiring a soccer player Sam Obisanya, played by Toheeb Jimoh.
Edwin seeks to lure Sam away from the show’s fictional team, AFC Richmond, into his own soccer team. Richardson’s character would go against what can be described as his typical "nice guy" persona on screen, offering a twist that appealed to the actor as well. “I felt like anybody who knew any of my previous work would probably look at that and assume it was going to be a little cup of warm soup on a rainy day,” Richardson said, before describing the switch in his character’s persona. “And then they get that turn, that twist, I think, hit even harder if you knew me from other things. It was really fun to get to play, just go really dark.”
Jimoh’s character was patterned for Richardson and was originally meant to be Ghanaian. However, with Jimoh being Nigerian, the character was altered. Richardson, who is Ghanaian as well, spoke of the excitement the members of his family, with an emphasis on his mom, experienced seeing him play a role closely linked to their motherland. “It’s not my accent, so it’s me sort of mimicking them, having grown up with the ear for it,” the actor said. Despite having become friends off-screen, Richardson reveals that he and Jimoh got to enjoy the rivalry that exists between their two nations, remarking, “And also we got to share the rivalry between Ghanaians and Nigerians that exists.”
Ted Lasso follows Jason Sudeikis's American coach, who is brought to the UK to manage a British soccer team that plays in the Premier League, the elite level of British soccer. Since its debut, the series has amassed a huge following, and would go on to pull in 20 Emmy nominations this year, matching the record-breaking haul it amassed in 2021, from which it won seven awards. Richardson is nominated for Best Guest Actor in a comedy series for his appearance in the series.
Also starring in the series are Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster, and Nick Mohammed. Jodi Balfour has been added to the cast for the third season. The series is developed by Sudeikis and Hunt alongside Bill Lawrence and Joe Kelly. Executive producing the show are Bill Wrubel, Jeff Ingold, Liza Katzer, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee alongside Sudeikis, Hunt, Lawrence, and Kelly.
The first two seasons of Ted Lasso are available to stream on Apple TV+ with a third season still in production.
Check out the show’s first trailer below: