Nick Mohammed Talks Nate's Ted Lasso Betrayal
Nick Mohammed Has Known About Nate's "Ted Lasso" Betrayal Since Season 1
"Ted Lasso" fans might have been shocked when AFC Richmond's Nate Shelley betrayed the team and moved to rival West Ham at the end of season two, but Nick Mohammed, who plays the character, tells POPSUGAR he knew Nate's treachery (and transformation) was certain ever since season one.
"When I auditioned for it, I think I was sent maybe the first three episodes of season one," he says, so he didn't know about the complete vision for the character when he was cast. But then, "quite early" in filming season one, Mohammed learned about Nate's heel turn from creator and star Jason Sudeikis.
"I think every villain has an origin story, and I think we know that a lot of Nate's deep-seated insecurities stem from the relationship with his dad, which is quite toxic."
"I remember quite distinctly Jason sort of sitting me down and explaining the plan for the sort of three-season arc should the show get picked up again," Mohammed explains. "There were often times in season one when Jason would say, 'Have this at the back of your mind, because this is what this is pointing toward.'"
Despite Nate's betrayal, Mohammed bristles at the suggestion that his character is a villain. "I don't know how much of a villain Nate is. Certainly, a lot of his actions are very villainous," he notes. Still, the actor empathises with how Nate got to such an isolated and angry place.
"I think every villain has an origin story, and I think we know that a lot of Nate's deep-seated insecurities stem from the relationship with his dad, which is quite toxic," he explains. "When he's then given a little bit of power and a bit of responsibility, he decides to use that by sort of lashing out at others, because that's what he experienced."
This is especially visible throughout the first two seasons of "Ted Lasso," with Nate taking out his anger on some of the Richmond staff and players and coaching them in a decisively un-Ted Lasso-like way.
Sudeikis recently teased in an interview that although the series is almost definitely wrapping up with its third season, there's still room for a spinoff. "I believe that there's enough juice left in the Richmond orange, if you will, to squeeze out stuff," he said on "The Jess Cagle Show" on 19 March. "It's just, you know, we're still squeezing the season three orange." Who knows: perhaps Nate will get a spinoff.
New episodes of "Ted Lasso" season three premiere on Wednesdays on Apple TV+. Watch the video above to see what else Mohammed and his costars Brett Goldstein and Brendan Hunt had to say about their series.
