Comic boosts Ted Lasso's enviable awards haul

Brett Goldstein is an Emmy winner. 

The comedian won best supporting actor at last night’s ceremony for his role as Roy Kent in Ted Lasso, which was also named outstanding comedy series.

Accepting the award, Goldstein said: ‘I was very, very specifically told I’m not allowed to swear. So this speech is going to be fucking short.’ 

Goldstein – who is also a writer on the show –  triumphed over co-stars Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard, Nick Mohammed (Nathan) and Jeremy Swift (Higgins) to take the coveted accolade.

He added: ‘To my teammates that I’m nominated with and all my team – this cast made me sick, they’re so good.’

Star and co-creator Jason Sudekis, also won an Emmy for best lead actor in a comedy series, while Hannah Waddingham won best supporting actress.

In his speech Goldstein thanked all the creators, also including Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt  and Joe Kelley. He said: ‘It has been one of the greatest honours, privileges, and privileges...I just said that twice, but it’s a double privilege. It’s the most privileged privilege and pleasures of my life. And this is the fucking icing on the cake.’

Waddington also cautioned that her acceptance speech might not be family-friendly when she said:  'Jesus Christ on a bike, I'm sorry. Oh my God, I'm not responsible for what falls out of my face in the next 30 seconds.’

She thanked Sudekis saying: ‘Jason, you've changed my life with this and more importantly my baby girl's. Honestly, I'm so privileged to work with you,' before adding, 'Oh my God, I'm giving a speech at the Emmys!’

Backstage the cast did the ‘Roy Kent’ chant for journalists: 

The whole Ted Lasso cast & crew did the Roy Kent cheer backstage and it was pretty special #Emmys pic.twitter.com/2HNJsTuc5d

— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) September 20, 2021

And here is the reaction of some of the Ted Lasso team when Goldsmith’s name was announced:

Note Phil Dunster's reaction to Brett Goldstein winning his Emmy pic.twitter.com/rB5Se6xktM

— Mark (@tole_cover) September 20, 2021

In other comedy categories, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver won outstanding variety talk series as well as the writing award for the same genre; Saturday Night Live won outstanding variety sketch series; and Jean Smart was named best lead actress in a comedy series for Hacks,  which also won the awards for comedy writing and directing.

Picking up the variety talk series Emmy for the sixth time, Oliver said he was hoping rival Conan O’Brien might win, given that he stepped down as a nightly talk show host this summer after 28 years.

‘Like many of us in this room, I was kind of rooting for Conan, the British comic said, ‘so this is bittersweet.’

He also paid tribute to Norm Macdonald, who died earlier this month at the age of 61: ‘This is an award for late-night comedy, no one was funnier in the last 20 years than Norm Macdonald on late-night comedy, so if you have any time in the next week, do what I did and spend some time watching YouTube clips of Norm and Conan, because it doesn’t get better than that.’

Aside from Ted Lasso, the other big winner at  The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards  was The Crown, whose haul included best drama series and best drama writing, plus four acting wins for Gillian Anderson, Olivia Colman, Josh O'Connor and Tobias Menzies.

British talent and shows won more than half of the awards.

Michaela Coel won outstanding writing for a limited series for  I May Destroy You, while Kate Winslet and Ewan McGregor were named best limited series actress and actor for Mare of Easttown and Halston respectively.

Here are Waddingham and Goldstein being interviewed after their victory: 

Published: 20 Sep 2021