“Ted Lasso” and double OL fun

“Ted Lasso” is one of the hottest TV shows around. We’re so excited that for series 3, there’s not just one Old Leightonian involved but two: one in front of the camera, the other behind.

Bad boy star footballer Jamie Tartt is played by our own Phil Dunster (2010); he received rave reviews worldwide for this comedic but subtly nuanced performance (as well as his great football skills). Phil has been on TV screens recently in the creepy “The Devil’s Hour” and in “Ten Per Cent”. Since graduating from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Phil has worked consistently in TV, film and even in Kenneth Branagh’s Theatre Company.

Phil was joined by fellow OL Alyssa Rowson (2017), who was Assistant Director base runner on set: she explained “My main responsibility was to get all of the cast through Hair and Make Up/costume in the mornings and on set on time. ADs help things run smoothly on set so we do a lot of problem solving when things don’t go to plan! I’m very proud to be a part of the project and can’t wait for the first episode to come out. “Ted” was such a special project because it really felt like a family – which helps when you’re working 13+ hour days. I got to know Phil well and we had lots of memories of LP to bond over. We had chats about the madness of house music, the school musicals we both did and how brilliant it was to go a school so encouraging and accepting of creativity!”

Alyssa read Liberal Arts at the University of Nottingham and was on set within a week of graduating. “Coming out of COVID restrictions there was a massive boom in film/tv work so I think it was very much a case of right place, right time. I started in the industry doing a week on Indiana Jones which was very cool and have since done lots of different bits including “Ted Lasso”, ‘Citadel’ a spy show for Amazon Prime and a horror film. I’ve just wrapped on an ITVX comedy called “Ruby Speaking”.