Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1382552
39 S U M M E R Q 2 I S S U E C O V E R S T O R Y 'Unscripted TV is a great training ground.' The "Ted Lasso" post team toasts in a Zoom call. this work with what we have?" McCoy: I've been very lucky to have worked on a wide variety of genres, from comedy to action and drama, and I drew on all those skills with "Ted Lasso." I'm thinking of episode 105 when we meet Ted's wife where basically all the genres are represented. In one moment, Ted is merrily waving off an ornery townsperson calling him a wanker which is followed by a devastating scene where Ted's wife basically tells him she doesn't love him anymore. From there the show moves into a complex football match where I had to weave the action on the field with Ted taking off to the owner's box to ask Rebecca to bench the star player, Jamie Tartt. After the action on the field there's a wonderful scene in the locker room where Ted gives the classic swelling speech firing up the team, but of course with some hilarious Ted-isms sprinkled in to keep the "Ted Lasso" flavor. Q One of the keys to the comedy is the way information is being withheld at crucial times. Ted doesn't know, for example, that Rebecca has hired him in a revenge scheme directed at her ex-husband. How did that notion of withheld info influence your cutting? Catoline: The season story arc of "Ted Lasso" was withheld from most everyone outside of the writer's room. Cutting several episodes, we didn't know how Season 2 would end. I've heard the cast mention that they get the scripts just before filming. I think that helps with spontaneity and improv in the per- formances. When I got hired, all I knew about the project was the original short films that were made years ago. It wasn't until before we started that Mel and I got the first few scripts and we could see the show was deeper than a comedy. I was interested to see how Rebecca's story would develop. Hannah Wadding- ham plays her brilliantly, revealing so much shame hidden deep in her char- acter. The looks she gives in her close coverage are so powerful and revealing. We see her withholding the truth from Ted and even herself. There is much to mine in the coverage when I go to look for close-up reactions from Hannah. And as the season goes on, we see Ted is helping her to believe in herself, to become com- fortable being vulnerable. Her radically honest and real friendship with Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) blossoms on screen.