Ted Lasso Star Breaks Down Jamie’s Season 3 Transformation

No character on Ted Lasso has experienced a more dramatic transformation than Jamie Tartt. The talented footballer was a total turd in the first season, thinking only of himself and putting his teammates down. He was humbled in Season 2, but it’s his arc in Season 3 that has made Jamie one of the most popular characters on the entire series. He has become a kind person and a giving teammate, often putting others first. He’s even become close friends with former rival Roy Kent.

Even though Jamie is a much better person nowadays, the character still contains multitudes. According to Phil Dunster, the actor behind the football star, Jamie is still a bit of an egomaniac, despite also being a nice guy.

“But he’s never just a nice guy,” Dunster told EW in a recent interview. “He’s still an egomaniac at heart.”

Season 3 Jamie has been mostly the nice guy version. The Jamie we watched in Season 1 was almost exclusively an egomaniac. Dunster has had the opportunity to play both over the years. The actor was asked if he prefers playing one over the other, and he said the response from viewers has certainly been more positive when it comes to the new version of Jamie.

“It’s a good question. You certainly get nicer feedback, less people saying they want to punch me in the face,” Dunster explained. “He has been this rogue, this rapscallion. I hope the niceness feels like a bit of a payoff, that he’s earned it a bit.”

A big part of Jamie’s growth came in the form of Zava, a gifted athlete who was both more self-obsessed and better at football than Jamie. Earlier in the season, Dunster told The Wrap how Zava’s arrival helped push forward Jamie’s evolution.

“Jamie has also changed dramatically this season. When we saw Zava turn up, we see Jamie react in a way that he would not have in season one,” the actor said. “Jamie is saying, ‘Guys, we’re a team, let’s play as a team. Why do we care about this superstar who’s turned up?’ when he once was the superstar and he [only] cared about himself, so we see how much he’s learned there. And now Zava is gone. He wants to go back to – I think it’s in episode three, he says, ‘We can work as a team. We can instill all of the lessons that we’ve learned over the last couple of years.’ He’s now being coached by one of the best players in recent history, and he’s also in a place in his life where he can be open to listen to that. It’s a heady cocktail in the footballing sense.”

What do you think of Jamie Tartt’s transformation on Ted Lasso? Is he your new favorite character? Let us know in the comments!