‘Ted Lasso’ Star Nick Mohammed Reacts to Earning First Emmy Nomination (Exclusive)

Ted Lasso has earned 20 Emmy nominations, and Nick Mohammed is one of the many actors on the show up for an award this year. Mohammed plays Nathan Shelley, the former kit man who is now an assistant coach for AFC Richmond. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Mohammed for an exclusive interview, where he admitted he was surprised about earning an Emmy nomination for Ted Lasso.

“I was genuinely utterly surprised,” Mohammed told PopCulture. “I mean, I thought that given the past with the Golden Globes and Critics Choice I was pretty certain that the show itself would get nominated and that Jason [Sudeikis] would get nominated and Hannah [Waddingham] would get nominated. But second to that, I mean, I really hoped that Brett [Goldstein] and Brendan [Hunt] would get a supporting actor nod. And Juno [Temple] as well. You don’t ever really want to think of these things too much. It’s just been incredible and I’m just so proud of the show.”

Mohammed is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series with his castmates Hunt, Goldstein, and Jeremy Swift. They are going up against Carl Clemons-Hopkins of Hacks, Paul Reiser of The Kominsky Method and Bowen Yang and Kenan Thompson of Saturday Night Live. When the nominations were announced, Mohammed wasn’t keeping up with it as he was getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I was having it done at the science museum in London because they set up a facility there,” Mohammed revealed. “I was on the tube going in and out of reception. And I was aware, obviously, that the nominations were going to come out, but I wasn’t going to follow it. … And then I was just coming out of the tube and my phone got reception again and then started pinging a few times and I saw my wife had a text. And I thought, ah. It was crazy and it was bonkers because then I had to go and have my jab, and then I just went to the theater. It was a strange, odd, but really nice day.”

Ted Lasso, which began airing last year, earned a ton of praise for its first season. Season 2 began airing late last month and Apple TV+ saw monster numbers for the opening weekend. Nate is one of the key pieces to the show, but Mohammed thinks he knows why fans are drawn to Ted Lasso.

“It just has so much heart,” Mohammed stated. “I think it also just manages to balance the lapse with all the emotional paths as well. I write a little bit as well and just the way they managed to create, the writers, to walk that tight rope, that comedy-drama tight rope, I guess, and still deliver on both without sacrificing either laughs or emotional paths, they’ve just absolutely nailed it. I think that people really appreciated that this was a show that could make you laugh and cry equally in equal measure.”

Season 2 of Ted Lasso is currently streaming on Apple TV+, and a new episode will air each week. All episodes of Season 1 are also currently streaming and PopCulture.com readers can get a free three-month trial subscription here.