...but I might not be in it, says Phil Dunster

Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster has confirmed that season 4 of the hit show is happening – but he’s yet to get the phone call confirming he’ll be in it.

Dunster – who plays AFC Richmond’s star striker Jamie Tartt – says he’d jump at the chance to return to the Apple TV+ comedy that he’s been in since the start. 

It has been reported that some co-stars, including  Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and Jeremy Swift have had their contract options picked up for the fourth season, but Dunster has has not yet signed on.

‘It’s been greenlit to write another series. It’s been announced that series 4 is going to be a thing,’ says Dunster, speaking to the Always Be Comedy podcast.

"There’s been a commission to write the fourth series, whether that ends up being a show, I don't know. I don't know any of that stuff. I don't know if I'll be in it. There are certain members of the cast who have been re-upped, as it were.

‘But yeah, I mean it's pretty good news I think in that it looks like it will happen. Season 4 is going be a thing. They start writing next year, I think. But yeah, other than that I don't really know anything.’

What could prevent Dunster from donning the red & blue of Richmond FC is a new HBO comedy series he’s making for Bill Lawrence – who created Ted Lasso with Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly.

Steve Carell stars in the new, as-yet-untitled series, which is set on a college campus and revolves around an author’s complicated relationship with his daughter.

'Well, I'm doing a comedy with Bill Lawrence, who was one of the creators of Ted,’ Dunster  said. ‘So I'm doing that next. That's my next thing over on HBO.  So I’m not one of those people who’s been re-upped,

‘But also I say that with total love and acceptance that shows move on and things happen. I think that there was some belief at this time that it's because I had booked something else, that was [the reason]  that I wasn't doing it. That wasn't the case.

‘I would always pick up that phone and I would always say "How high?"  if Jason [Sudeikis, who also plays Ted Lasso] said "jump".

‘But yeah, so I don't know. Who knows? I think that there is a world where something like that happens. I don't know which direction they're taking the show in, but there's lots of favourites of the characters who will still be in it. ‘We move’, as the kids say these days.’

Dunster also revealed that his agent had held talks with the makers of the James Bond movies to see if their man might don the famous tuxedo. 

He says: ‘I think that there was a conversation that one of my agents had, and they quite firmly shut the door.’

Dunster was talking ahead of a fundraiser he is hosting in London’s West End this Sunday in aid of  Young Lives vs Cancer.  The show also features Aisling Bea and Olivier award-nominated West End star Zizi Strallen and actor, comedian and musician Ed MacArthur. Tickets are available here.

The Always Be Comedy podcast is available on all platforms.

Published: 22 Nov 2024