Emmys: Jason Sudeikis Thanks Second City, ‘SNL’ Mentors in ‘Ted Lasso’ Best Actor Speech

Jason Sudeikis won best actor in a comedy series for Ted Lasso at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

Upon accepting his award for portraying the titular character in the Apple TV+ series, Sudeikis remarked that it has been a “heck of a year.”

Noting that Ted Lasso is really about family, mentors and teammates, Sudeikis said, “I wouldn’t be here without those three things in my life.” He thanked his parents, sisters and children, as well as mentors at improv comedy troupe Second City and Saturday Night Live, including Lorne Michaels — who shared in the Emmys backstage area that Sudeikis would be “coming back soon” to SNL.

Sudeikis also gave a special thank-you to co-creators Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly and Bill Lawrence, as well as the “incredible” cast and crew of the comedy series.

The actor beat out fellow nominees Anthony Anderson for Black-ish, Michael Douglas for The Kominsky Method, William H. Macy for Shameless and Kenan Thompson for Kenan.

In the Warner Bros. Television-produced series, Sudeikis plays an optimistic coach of a struggling college football team who goes to London — despite having no experience with British soccer — to try his hand with a European team.

Sudeikis co-developed Ted Lasso using a character he first portrayed in a series of NBC sports promos in 2013. Backstage, Sudeikis shared a personal takeaway from the show so far: “I think I’ve learned that optimism is a better way to go, even though pessimism can sometimes get an easy laugh.”

The show, which is currently in season two and has already been renewed for a third — Sudeikis said backstage that there will be twelve episodes — received 20 Emmy nominations overall (including Creative Arts Emmys, which were held last week and bestowed Ted Lasso with wins for editing, sound mixing and more), and took home the coveted best comedy series trophy.

Among its additional wins, Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein were recognized for their supporting performances.

Looking ahead to how he will celebrate, Sudeikis gave a window into the plans of the Ted Lasso cast and crew. “We’re lucky that we have a bunch of folks in from out of town, some foreigners, so they all had to stay at a hotel locally, and so we knew which hotel that was ahead of time and so a bunch of us got rooms there too. And so we will go to our individual rooms with masks on and zoom the hell out of each other.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s sources, Sudeikis is among the key players who recently received a sizable pay increase for its third season.

Hosted by actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer, the 2021 Emmy Awards were held at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles and broadcast on CBS and Paramount+.

The event this year included a new accessibility feature, an ADA-compliant ramp to assist disabled members of the entertainment industry in accessing the Emmys stage.

Click here for an immersive red carpet and THR Roundtable experience.