The second season of Ted Lasso ended with Nate Shelley making the choice to leave Richmond for a cushy job managing West Ham United, burning a lot of bridges on the way out the door. Nate chose the path of the villain, but Season 3 has shown fans that the good-natured guy they fell in love with is still there. This journey away from Richmond, away from Ted’s support system, has been crucial for Nate, but it has made for a very lonely season.
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Nick Mohammed, who stars as Nate on Ted Lasso, has had a very different experience in Season 3. For the first two seasons, he was surrounded by all of his co-stars for just about every scene, constantly working with Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein, and everyone else. This time around, with Nate at West Ham, Mohammed has been separate from many of his castmates. While speaking to EW about Ted Lasso, Mohammed said that he has been using that loneliness from production to fuel his performance as Nate.
“He’s out in the desert at the moment, isn’t he?” Mohammed said of his character. “Sadly, he has chosen to leave Richmond in the way that he did, and he is absolutely out on a limb, he’s a fish out of water. From a practical point of view, some of that stuff was quite lonely to film, because obviously I’m not [shooting] with the gang. We try to use as much of that feeling of loneliness and abandonment and channel it into Nate, because that is precisely what he’s feeling.”
Nate may not have the Richmond team around him this season, but he has started a new relationship with Jade, his longtime crush from A Taste of Athens. As their relationship grows, Nate has been seeming more and more like himself.
“There’s a spark of a relationship,” Mohammed explained. “Whether he’s redeemed is a whole different story. I don’t think it’s as black and white as he’s definitely redeemed or he’s definitely not redeemed. It’s a bit more nuanced than that.”
What have you thought about Nate’s journey in Ted Lasso Season 3? Let us know in the comments!
