He may not have been coming from as aggressive a place as Jamie Tartt or Roy Kent, but Leslie Higgins had one of the most affecting redemption arcs in Ted Lasso season 1. In the 10 episodes, he went from unwitting stooge into a moderately-willed asset to AFC Richmond's future. Played by Jeremy Swift, who is dipping his toe into the American sitcom world with a certainly British sensibility, Higgins returns in Ted Lasso season 2 as the team faces a tough promotional battle.
Screen Rant caught up with Swift to talk bringing Higgins to life and his reaction to the show's runaway success.
What's so cool is that Ted Lasso is an American show made by American studios, but it has a really British sensibility rooted in London and a great British cast. What does it feel like to make? Does it feel like a traditional UK sitcom, or does it have that more Americanized connection?
I think the latter - although I think they nail, as you say, the Brit culture. That's partly because there are a couple of Brits on the writing team. And Brendan Hunt, who's Coach Beard and one of the co-creators of the show, has been a big football fan for years and years. And he knows the UK very well, as well. But one of the reasons I've always wanted to be in a US sitcom is that things can change. The script doesn't stay stuck on the page, where you have that same draft forever. It's a bit of pressure, because there's rewrites - lots of rewrites - and during the scene, they can change quite a lot. But that makes it very exciting. It keeps you on your toes and involves you in some improv. We've got a lot to do. Yeah, that's one of the biggest differences.
Jumping off what you said about rewrites, has Higgins changed in any meaningful way as you've got to grips with playing him? Have they adjusted the character, even in a small way?
I think he was who he was for Rebecca, initially. He wanted to keep his job; he wanted to feed his family, so he was treading on eggshells and was very obsequious. But his morals won out in the end, and he couldn't keep it up. So, I think with Ted's assistance and his magic wand of positivity, Higgins becomes more of himself. And hopefully you see that he's got a bit more gravitas in season two.
While Higgins is a recognizable archetype in real life, unlike a lot of other characters, he's not rooted in any public figure. Where did you look for inspiration to play that character?
I don't know that kind of character in the football world so much, but I just thought it was important that the character is translatable for the audience in lots of different ways. I do know people who have been in positions of quite a lot of authority, but they've had somebody above them who is very, very hard to work for. There's a couple of people I know who've had that experience with some terrible Michael Scott sort of narcissists. So, I just checked them out.
The show has become an absolutely massive breakout hit. What's been the weirdest or most surprising thing to happen since it dropped last year for you?
I've just enjoyed the fact that it's a great show, and it's made people feel good. I didn't expect that to happen, because I couldn't foresee a pandemic. The fact that it's helped people feel better when everybody's as low as they may have ever been, that's something I could never foresee. That's the ultimate surprise, really.
Were you a football fan before coming into AFC Richmond? What team do you support?
Myself and Nick Mohammed had to do a bunch of PR yesterday, and we're the dunces of football. We had no interest, or we'd never watched it. I understand passion - I love music and bands and theatre and film, so I understand the crazy passion. And I do watch the odd match, like the England vs. Scotland events that happened the other day. But I think if I was forced to have a favorite team, it'd probably be Middlesbrough, because I'm from the North East. If I had to do it - if it was the law, that's who it would be.
Ted Lasso season 2 premieres July 23 on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Friday.