English actor, comedian, and writer Brett Goldstein has scored his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor – Television by playing the grumpy but lovable star player turned coach Roy Kent in Ted Lasso.
His first job on the award-winning show was as a writer, but after working on several episodes in the writers’ room, he had an epiphany.
“I started to think I really get Roy Kent and I could … I think I could play him. But I also knew no one was thinking of me for the part because, you know, I have very little athletic ability. I wasn’t on anyone’s radar,” he shared while doing press for the show’s second season.
Although he wasn’t a footballer in real life, Goldstein had family friends who were, so he had witnessed some of the struggles that Roy Kent went through as an aging and injured athlete.
“A lot of these men aren’t taught other things. They’ve been living in this kind of quite extreme world and suddenly it’s like, what’s next? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and you can’t do this thing that you love. And the only reason you can’t do it is because you’re aging. Because your body won’t let you do it.”
He believed that he could do the character justice, so he made a self-tape audition without telling anyone.
“I loved all the people that I was writing with, and I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable, so on the last night of the writers’ room, I did five scenes as Roy. And then when I left, I emailed it. I said, ‘Look, if this is embarrassing, feel free to pretend you never got this email, and I will never ask about it and we can all move on with our lives. But I think I could play Roy Kent. Here is the tape and I’m so sorry to put you in this position.’”
Luckily, they all agreed that he was indeed perfect for the part.
Goldstein was born in London and took up Film Studies at the University of Warwick. He also studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York.
Early in his career, he honed his writing and performing talents by creating his own stand-up comedy shows. He wrote and performed “Brett Goldstein Grew Up in A Strip Club,” which was about his experiences of moving to Marbella, Spain, to run the strip club his father had purchased. The success of the show led to more shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before he made his 2013 TV debut in the Ricky Gervais series, Derek.
In 2015, he wrote and starred in the British comedy Superbob, a romantic comedy about a superhero looking for love.
Goldstein also co-created the AMC sci-fi anthology series Soulmates, which premiered in 2020.
“I think a secret of writing, which is a good thing that I have to remind myself of always, is just: go to your characters. You don’t need this big crazy stuff. If you’re ever sort of stuck, or you’re in a position, just look at your characters. Who are they, what do they need, what are they doing? And you bring it all down,” Goldstein has said about his writing process.
Apart from his acting and writing projects, Goldstein also hosts a podcast called Films To Be Buried With, in which he and his celebrity guests hold lively discussions about the films that matter most to them.