It’s official. Jean Weir is Ted Lasso‘s mom.
According to Above the Line, Becky Ann Baker has joined the cast of the feel-good Apple TV+ series starring Jason Sudeikis. She’s shined for decades as a powerhouse character actor (with a lack of award nominations that should be shameful to the Emmy votes) with Midwest-adjacent mom vibes. Freaks and Geeks may be her most notable role for the Millennial crowd, but she also did phenomenal, slightly unexpected work on Girls, and both examples are cherries on top of a stellar career of consistent awesomeness. Thus, this casting is perfect. America’s mom is now Ted Lasso’s mom.
The big question is whether she will (perfectly) play Ted’s mom as a maternal mirror image of over-the-top optimism and folksy charm, or whether she will (perfectly) play against that type as a comedic foil of negativity. After all, fans of the show learned in season 2 that Ted’s father committed suicide when Ted was 16, so we’ll undoubtedly see some of how that affected Mama Lasso as well.
Either way, Baker is an outstanding choice for the role, especially if she has to tell an entire raucous crew of footballers to come home at a reasonable hour from the heavy metal concert.
(via Above the Line)