Ted Lasso's Phil Dunster Discusses Jamie Tartt's Redemption Arc in Season 3 (Exclusive)

The man who was once AFC Richmond's locker room cancer became one of the club's greatest assets in Ted Lasso Season 3. Phil Dunster's Jamie Tartt began his Ted Lasso tenure as a brash and self-centered footballer, proving himself to be a detriment to an already-struggling AFC Richmond. A failed reality television run forced Jamie to have a few slices of humble pie, which led him back to the very club that once dumped him due to his attitude. Come Ted Lasso Season 3, Jamie is nearly completely unrecognizable, and it's not just due to his new haircut. Jamie cements himself as a locker room leader, putting an emphasis on lifting up his teammates in press conferences rather than gloating about his own accomplishments. 

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Dunster revealed that Jamie's redemption arc was not something he was aware of when he first joined the show.

"I wasn't even a hundred percent sure about what the story arc of season one would be in its entirety," Dunster explained. "Jason [Sudeikis] was very good at laying breadcrumbs along the way for us to lay foundations. [He] would maybe give us a little spoiler as to where we might be going."

Keeping those future plans quiet was not necessarily done out of secrecy either. Dunster noted that the Ted Lasso crew wanted to avoid teasing things that might not come to fruition.

"None of us know what's going to happen tomorrow. If you start then playing something that's going to happen in the future, it's not necessarily being, dare I use an overused phrase, an honest portrayal of what that character might be going through at that time," Dunster continued. "It was sprinkled along the way, what was going to be happening. I was really overjoyed to see his sort of redemption arc that he has. It's also great that it feels like it's not something that's just a linear progression."

As Dunster alludes to, Jamie's transformation comes as a natural progression of his character, but he also does not lose all of his bad habits immediately.

"I think that'd be quite boring if it was all of a sudden, he had learned all these lessons, and then was just great. He's better," Dunster said. "I really appreciate that they've put those building blocks for Jamie that he then, like a child knocks down and then they're like, we're going to build this up again, and then he knocks down again. It's up to him. That's the dream really, isn't it, to have all these challenges to try to overcome as an actor."

Ted Lasso Season 3's finale is now streaming on Apple TV+.