Jamie Tartt's goal in Ted Lasso season 2 was done for real by the actor Phil Dunster. Apple TV+'s hit series is now more than halfway through its second season, with new episodes airing every Friday. Ted Lasso premiered a year ago at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and quickly caught on for its themes of optimism, hope, and belief in the face of adversity. The series finds Jason Sudeikis as its titular college-level American football coach who is unexpectedly hired to manage a professional football club, AFC Richmond, which is part of the Premier League in England, despite having zero experience.
This eyebrow-raising move is soon revealed to be an attempt at sabotaging the team by the club's new owner, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), who is seeking revenge against her ex-husband who loved the team. Ted Lasso, with the help of his assistants Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) and Nate (Nick Mohammed), ends up doing far better than most expected, but the team is still relegated to a lower league at the end of season 1. A few of the team's notable players included the young phenom Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and the aging veteran Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) who later retires and joins the coaching staff. Season 2 begins with AFC Richmond on a unprecedented 7-game tie streak.
Now, a video shared by Ted Lasso star Brendan Hunt shows a behind-the-scenes look at Jamie's Tartt's goal from season 2, episode 6, "The Signal." The video shows the pure unadulterated footage of the goal, as the stadium and fans have not yet been digitally inserted. Hunt narrates the video, "On the left of your screen, Jamie Tartt is setting up for the freekick," joking, "There's no pressure here, it's all CGI," while the footage shows actor Phil Dunster scoring the goal for real. Watch the video below:
Click here to watch the video.
Dunster is an accomplished television actor in the United Kingdom, starring in a variety of series, but the actor must have a background in football if he's able to score a freekick from that far away. Granted the defenders weren't actually defending, but it's still an impressive goal nonetheless. Within the context of the show, this was also was quite a triumphant moment for Tartt and the rest of the team.
During season 1, Ted benched Tartt for his refusal to adopt a team-first attitude, which causes Manchester City to take Tartt back who had loaned him to AFC Richmond for the season. The second season finds Tartt taking a break from football to star on a Love Island-style reality show. After he is voted off, Jamie is unable to return to Manchester City and Ted eventually decides to let him rejoin AFC Richmond. His goal in episode 6 marked the return of his old selfish ways, which the coaches had been urging him to bring back out. Jamie Tartt has had one of the most interesting character arcs of Ted Lasso and it will be fascinating to see where the remainder of season 2 takes him.
Source: Brendan Hunt/Twitter