Jason Sudeikis

Daniel Jason Sudeikis is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter born on September 18, 1975. He gained widespread recognition for his work as a sketch writer and cast member on the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2003 to 2013. He achieved further international acclaim for co-creating and starring as the titular character in the Apple TV sports comedy series Ted Lasso.

Sudeikis was born to Kathryn and Daniel Joseph Sudeikis, coming from a background of German, Irish, and Lithuanian ancestry. He is the nephew of actor George Wendt and a great-grandson of photographer Tom Howard. Born with anosmia, Sudeikis has no sense of smell. He grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, which he considers his hometown. He graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School and attended Fort Scott Community College on a basketball scholarship before leaving prior to graduation.

His performing career began in the 1990s through improv comedy, working with organizations including ComedySportz, the Annoyance Theatre, IO Theater, J.T.S. Brown, Boom Chicago, and The Second City. In 2003, he was hired as a writer for Saturday Night Live, becoming a featured player in 2005 and a full repertory member in 2006. During his decade on the show, he played numerous original recurring characters and impersonated prominent figures such as George W. Bush, Joe Biden, and Mitt Romney. He departed the main cast in 2013, later making sporadic guest appearances and returning to host in 2021.

Sudeikis established a broad television presence with recurring roles in series such as 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Eastbound & Down, Portlandia, The Last Man on Earth, and Detroiters, the latter of which he also executive produced. He provided main voice roles for the animated series The Cleveland Show from 2009 to 2013. His voice acting credits also include animated feature films such as Epic, Next Gen, Hitpig!, and both movies in The Angry Birds Movie franchise.

In feature films, Sudeikis moved from early supporting roles in comedies like Watching the Detectives, What Happens in Vegas, and Going the Distance to leading roles in major studio releases including Hall Pass, We're the Millers, Horrible Bosses, and Horrible Bosses 2. He also starred in independent films and dramas such as Drinking Buddies, Sleeping with Other People, Tumbledown, Race, Masterminds, and Colossal, alongside supporting parts in Downsizing and Booksmart.

After originating the character of Ted Lasso in promotional clips for NBC Sports in 2013 and 2014, Sudeikis developed the concept into a full series on Apple TV launching in 2020. His portrayal of an American football coach heading an English soccer team earned him two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards. Outside of film and television, he starred in an Off-Broadway production of Dead Poets Society in 2016 and hosts charity events including the annual Thundergong! benefit concert and the Big Slick fundraiser.