Joy Behar Claims She Turned Down 'Ted Lasso' Role
Behar said that she was offered the role of Ted's mother in Season 3.
Joy Behar just revealed that she was offered a role on Ted Lasso, but she turned it down simply because she didn't want to travel to the U.K. Behar has been a co-host on The View for years now, but she discussed some of her other work during a recent interview on the Behind the Table podcast. She admitted that she could have auditioned to play Ted Lasso's mother, introduced in Season 3.
"You were contacted about the possibility to be on my favorite show of all time," said host Brian Teta. "You were dismissive of it because it would require you to spend your hiatus in London." Behar admitted that that was true, but pointed out that it wasn't an ordinary summer in the U.K. When Season 3 was filmed, the country was in a serious heat wave, and it struggled with a lack of infrastructure to handle those conditions. Air conditioning in general is not that common in England.
"It was too hot, you remember?" Behar said. "There was a heat wave going on at that time, like 100-degree weather, and I'd have to get on a plane and go in the middle of the heat? No. Listen, I'm a writer, I write my own stuff, I don't care about other people's stuff. I don't need to be in everything."
The role of Ted's mother, Dottie Lasso, ultimately went to actress Becky Ann Baker. Baker was even nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for the performance – specifically in the episode "Mom City." However, when Teta pointed out that Ted Lasso was "the hottest show on TV" at the time, Behar said that she didn't particularly feel like she had missed out on anything.
"It was not the hottest show on TV," Behar said. "If they were doing it in the spring, I would've done it maybe, or in the fall, but not in the middle of the heat wave." As for Baker's Emmy nomination, Behar said: "Well, good for her. Bravo."
Ted Lasso premiered in 2020 on Apple TV+ and became an instant hit. It starred Jason Sudeikis as a down-on-his-luck professional football coach who takes a job in the U.K. coaching a pro soccer team. He brings his folksy wisdom to this unfamiliar arena and finds that both he and the team can benefit from each other. The show concluded with Season 3 in the spring of 2023. Ted's mother appeared in just one of those episodes, but she definitely made a big impact on the story.
Ted Lasso is streaming now on Apple TV+. The series has concluded, so there is no new season coming. The View airs on weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.