‘Ted Lasso’: Billy Harris on Colin’s “Armor” and Desire to Live a Complete Life After Pivotal Episode
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[This story contains spoilers for “Sunflowers,” episode six of Ted Lasso’s third season.]
Ted Lasso watchers have speculated that AFC Richmond player Colin Hughes (Billy Harris) is gay since early in season two, and those suspicions were confirmed in season three’s third episode.
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With the April 19 episode, “Sunflowers,” Colin’s story took a big step forward as he acknowledged his sexuality — and the way he deals with living a closeted life among his teammates — to journalist Trent Crimm (James Lance) while the Richmond players had a night off in Amsterdam. Trent then shares with Colin that he’s gay as well, opening the door for Colin to — perhaps — tell his teammates and coaches.
“I think with Ted Lasso, you can understand exactly why footballers or sports stars would want to hide their true identity,” Harris tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Their work life is tough enough. … In this world, you’re never far from someone that’s going to make a joke like that. So I think what you’re seeing is Colin having to really almost put armor on to just kind of be like, ‘OK, I know that these things get said, and I’m around it, but I’m just going to do my job.'”
Harris also talked about working with star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis and the multiple takes of an audition tape showing off his skills on the pitch.
I’m curious if you and the writers had any conversations about Colin’s backstory and sexuality before this season?
Yes — in season two, that was something that we had a conversation about. It was around the same time — I don’t know if you remember the Grindr line [in season two’s third episode], that was something that Colin [said] that a lot of people on Twitter very excited about. Like, OK, Colin may be hiding something that maybe the audience that doesn’t know.
How did they approach you with it, and what was your reaction to the idea?
Obviously, we get the scripts in advance, and it was really around the Grindr line. It was something that I spoke to the writers about, and there were two brilliant writers, Dylan Marron and Chuck Hayward, who came into season three. They were basically assigned to the Colin storyline. They did a brilliant job. Dylan Marron was around all the time, and what you’re seeing in season three is basically his work alongside Jason’s, Brendan’s and Joe’s and everyone else’s.
We’ve seen Colin has a boyfriend or a guy he’s seeing [played by Sam Liu]. But is he out to his family or anybody else close to him?
This is something you haven’t seen [yet], but I do believe that he’s out to his family; his parents know. And if he has brothers and sisters, they know as well. But I think the most important thing is the fact that his personal life and his career are not able to combine. I think that’s the storyline that I’m sure a lot of athletes today can probably relate to.
Did you speak with any other athletes who have been in this situation?
No, I didn’t. But there’s Josh Cavallo [an Australian player who came out in 2021], and Jake Daniels with [English Championship club] Blackpool is a footballer who’s come out. And you’re starting to see it more, and people are talking about it more. I’m a football fan myself, and I would want people to just be their true selves out there, when they’re playing the sport that they love. But I know that in our society, they can’t necessarily do that.
It seems like sports, particularly men’s sports, is among the fields that has been slowest to adapt and accept gay people.
I think some people, they just see the player and not the person. I think with Ted Lasso, you can understand exactly why footballers or sports stars would want to hide their true identity. Their work life is tough enough. And then to have away fans — thinking in your head the awful things that they could say. I think that Ted Lasso is trying to just show you a storyline that people would typically not think about — why would someone struggle to come out in in, in sports? It’s because it’s incredibly hard.
How does Colin deal with the microaggressions and cracks in the locker room? There’s a line in episode three where Isaac [Kola Bokinni] says “That’s a bit gay” in a derisive way.
I think we can all relate to being in a workplace or an environment [like that]. Ted Lasso deals with toxic masculinity as well, although the footballers are really lovely, lovely people. I think that in this world, you’re never far from someone that’s going to make a joke like that. So I think what you’re seeing is Colin having to really almost put armor on to just kind of be like, “OK, I know that these things get said, and I’m around it, but I’m just going to do my job.” And it’s that tunnel vision of wanting to do his job, and what we see in this [season] is that he’s been bottling up a lot of emotions. What’s important as well is that in in season two, you see Colin go to therapy, you see him with Dr. Sharon [Sarah Niles]. She is the person that has kind of unlocked this in Colin and has said, “Do you think you need to start dealing with these emotions that you’re feeling?” And in episode six, he talks about how there’s an ache inside of him that he can’t quite figure out. But he knows that all he wants to do is for two lives to become one.
It seemed like that conversation with Trent in Amsterdam really lifted something off his shoulders — you can kind of see it in your performance.
Thank you. Trent is probably the first person in sports that he’s had that kind of conversation with. And also, he’s a journalist. I think that that’s so brave of Colin to go, “OK, I trust you. I trust what you’re saying. I have a lot on my plate. I have a lot on my mind. Please can you listen?” And Trent does that. He does a fantastic job of just giving Colin the space to tell his truth.
It’s kind of a two-way street, because within the world of the show, no one knows about Trent being gay either.
No. And then they then they go off into the night, and they have a great night. (Laughs.)
Without giving away the whole rest of the season, what can you say about where Colin’s story goes from here and how it might affect his standing with the team?
What Colin has said is that he doesn’t want to be a spokesperson, and he just wants to live his life. I think that what you’ll see is more of Colin feeling comfortable, but he still hasn’t addressed the people that he spends probably the most amount of time with, which is the team. Going forward, not giving any spoilers away, but I can say that for Colin’s storyline, it doesn’t end there, which is brilliant.
In the bigger picture of the show, it’s been really fun to watch characters like Colin and Bumbercatch [Moe Hashim] and Dani [Cristo Fernández] have their roles expand over three seasons. I’m curious what it’s been like for you, getting more to do each year?
It really does feel like that — getting more to do each year and more responsibility. This was my first TV job. I really started the show, you know, in front of people like Jason and just thought, “OK, I’m gonna just learn the ropes from these guys, and whatever comes of this character of Colin is a blessing.” But the main thing was that I was really just trying to soak it all up. But as you said, the writers really have given us a lot of responsibility. They really do believe in us, and I think that’s because we also believe in the show. We have an enormous amount of respect for all the writers and all of the directors that we’ve worked with.
Obviously season three was a moment where I was getting a bit more and it’s been it’s been really, really nice to work really close with Jason, and seeing just a bit more how he works. The Amsterdam episode, it was a night shoot for me, where me and Trent are sitting by the dam. Jason was going to film in the morning, really early [the next day]. I had Matt Lipsey there, the director, and [executive producers] Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, but I really wanted Jason to be there as well, just to get his insight. But I thought, “He’s got an early start in the morning; he would probably be getting ready for that.” And then lo and behold, I’m sitting there waiting to go on to set at 2 a.m., and the door of my car slides open and Jason gets in. And he’s like, “Let’s go through these lines together.” And I think that’s just a testament to how invested he is in every single person in this show. There’s such a huge ensemble, but when it’s people’s moments, he really does spend the time with us.
As you said, this is your first kind of big, regular TV role. How has that affected you in terms of anything from other work that might be coming your way now, to being recognized or anything like that?
You say it’s like a regular TV role, but it’s Ted Lasso! None of us really expected what’s happening at the moment. I’ve had experiences of coming to America for the first time — Kola Bokinni and I went to Miami — and being chased by a mother with her son down in security where the passports are. I thought there was some kind of security breach, but she wasn’t running away from anyone. She was trying to chase me and Kola down to get a photo. I though, “OK, this is America. They really do like Ted Lasso.“
You said you’re a football fan. Did you play growing up?
Yes. We had to send tape of ourselves acting, and then we had to send a tape of us playing football. I’ve played football my whole life, from when I was a kid. In Britain its huge, isn’t it? So it’s like your American football or basketball. Although you guys play soccer at a young age in America. So I had to do my self-tape for my football. It was me and my grandmother. I was flicking up. I was doing all the keepie-uppies and all the skills, and then I had a water bottle at the end of my garden. Then I landed the ball, and then kicked it and hit the water bottle. It was me and my grandma; she was filming it. They only got to see the one bit, but honestly, it took about 50 takes (laughs). Everything looking cool and then hitting the water bottle, that took a long time.
I had one tactical question: In episode five, after Zava [Maximilan Osinski] leaves the team, the commentators say they’ve put Colin up front. It doesn’t seem like that’s his usual role — or were they just noting that he’s back in the lineup?
I think what they did with Zava was they moved me out [of the starting lineup] and put Zava in. Then I think the commentator says something really nasty about Colin. That’s kind of been a running theme for Colin, like when Nate [Nick Mohammed] said he doesn’t inspire, that he’s just a painting in a Holiday Inn. What’s been really nice to see is that people on Twitter have said the irony of Nate saying to Colin “you don’t inspire people,” but then us being allowed to see Collin’s real life and then that hopefully inspiring people in the real world is really amazing. Colin is used to people talking down to him — that seems to be the thing. But he’s a “strong, capable man.” (Laughs.)
Whether this season is the last one or not, do you feel like it wraps up in a in a good place, regardless of what may or may not come afterward?
The thing is, I don’t know [if this is the end of the series]. So the moment that there is a season four, I’ll be ready with my football boots, ready to go again. I am as excited as and as curious as the whole world is, because I have no idea.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Ted Lasso releases new episodes Wednesdays on Apple TV+. Read THR‘s season three coverage and interviews.
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