Jason Sudeikis

Daniel Jason Sudeikis was born on September 18, 1975, in Fairfax, Virginia. He moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended Brookridge Elementary School and later Shawnee Mission West High School. He briefly attended Fort Scott Community College on a basketball scholarship before shifting his focus to comedy. Sudeikis began his improvisational comedy career at ComedySportz in Kansas City. His dedication to improv led him to Chicago, where he studied at the Annoyance Theatre and ImprovOlympic (now iO Theater), becoming a founding member of the long-form team J.T.S. Brown. He further developed his skills performing with Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and later with The Second City’s National Touring Company. In the early 2000s, he was a founding member of The Second City Las Vegas, performing at the Flamingo.

In 2003, Sudeikis was hired as a sketch writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), making occasional bit appearances. By May 2005, he became a featured player and was promoted to repertory status in 2006. During his tenure, he was recognized for his impressions of political figures and recurring characters such as the Male A-hole, Ocean Billy, and the Devil on “Weekend Update.” He announced his departure from SNL in July 2013 but continued to make occasional guest appearances. Meanwhile, Sudeikis expanded into film, securing supporting roles in movies like “Horrible Bosses” (2011) and its sequel “Horrible Bosses 2” (2014), “Hall Pass” (2011), and “We’re the Millers” (2013).

A significant career milestone occurred from 2020 to 2023 when he co-created and starred in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series “Ted Lasso.” This role, depicting an optimistic American football coach hired to lead a British soccer team, garnered him four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. The character of Ted Lasso originated from promotional videos for NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage in 2013 and 2014. Beyond “Ted Lasso,” Sudeikis has contributed voice work to animated films such as “The Angry Birds Movie” (2016) and “The Angry Birds Movie 2” (2019), and provided voices for video games like “Grand Theft Auto IV” (2008) and “FIFA 23” (2022). He has also taken on dramatic roles in independent films like “Sleeping with Other People” (2015), “Colossal” (2016), and “Kodachrome” (2017).