Biography

Brett Goldstein (born 17 July 1980) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for writing and starring in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso (2020–present), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Early Life

Brett was born in Sutton, London, to a British Jewish family, on 17 July 1980. He attended Sevenoaks School, one of the oldest and most expensive independent schools in the UK. After leaving school he attended the University of Warwick, graduating with a degree in Film Studies.

Soon afterward, Brett briefly relocated to Marbella, Spain, to work at a strip club which his father purchased during a “midlife crisis”. Brett later turned the experience into a stand-up comedy show called “Brett Goldstein Grew Up in A Strip Club”, which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Career

He appeared in the Channel 4 comedy Drifters. He also appeared in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Derek as Tom. He wrote The Catherine Tate Live Show with Catherine Tate and has written and performed four solo stand-up shows. He won the 2016 BIFA for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Brendan in the film Adult Life Skills.

In 2018, Brett began the podcast Films to Be Buried With, featuring guests talking about films that have been important in their life.

TV producer Bill Lawrence hired Goldstein as a writer for the 2020 Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso, starring Jason Sudeikis. Writing on the show led to Goldstein being cast as the character of aging footballer Roy Kent. Rolling Stone’s Emily Zemler stated that “he felt such a kinship with this stoic tough guy, in fact, that he emailed a self-taped audition of five scenes to the production team. The tapes, which included the ‘If I don’t hear silence I’m gonna start punching dicks’ scene from the pilot, ended up scoring him the role. The rest is history. “He later won the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy Series at the 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards and received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021 for his work on the show.

Together with Black Mirror writer Will Bridges, Brett created and wrote the six-part anthology series Soulmates for AMC, which is based on their 2013 short film For Life. The series premiered on AMC on 5 October 2020. The cast includes Sarah Snook, Malin Akerman, Betsy Brandt, JJ Feild and Charlie Heaton.

More recently, Brett signed a multi-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Brett was revealed to be playing the role of Hercules in the mid-credits scene of Thor: Love and Thunder. He will appear as the character in future Marvel Cinematic Universe properties.