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Its been a lot for Jimoh to take on, and he seems overjoyed to be doing it.
Where are you today?
Whats happening in your world?Oh, Ive literally just arrived back in my house.
Im back home, sat down, ready to go.
Its actually crazy because Cristiano Ronaldo has just signed for the football team that I support.
So Im now a 7-year-old boy again, you know?
It is a big moment for me.
Feel free to explode at any time during this interview, thats fine.
Sam has become such a major character in this season ofTed Lasso.
Every now and then, you would hear things.
So Jason was speaking to me about what turned into the Dubai Air story line.
I knew that was coming.
But nobody told me anything, really.
Everybody else kind of knew about the Sam and Rebecca thing, apart from me.
I got to enjoy that in the moment.
I feel like the hardest thing in interviews and all of this stuff has been not telling other people.
Im kind of like,Thats smart.
Thats smart because I probably would have ruined it for everyone at some point.
After you read that, what did you do?
You must have been excited and surprised.Oh man, it was a lot of things.
The first thing I did was callHannah [Waddingham], and we just geeked out.
I mean, she knew, obviously.
Oh, she did?I dont know why she didnt tell me as well.
Yeah, of course, she did.
But I just called Hannah.
We just geeked out.
I was just really excited because I was going to get to do scenes with Hannah.
Usually, we get one or two; we had a couple in the first season.
So I just really wanted opportunities to work with her.
And I was just really glad that we got to explore this version of Sam.
In season two, hes growing up a lot more.
Hes learning to stand on his own two feet.
Were watching him grow into a man a little bit.
Its a lot for me to do as an actor, and I get to share that with Hannah.
That was something Jason and you spoke about.
Were there conversations about how much pushback Sam should receive from both Rebecca and the team in general?
The conversations we had were more about why Sam was doing that.
Putting the black tape over the Dubai Air logo why that was the accurate way of protest?
We spoke a lot about real protests that were happening at the time.
There was the wholeEnd SARSthing.
But then we just liked the idea of it being a public image, like something you could see.
And there really wasnt anything.
They had nailed it.
Theyd spoken to people.
They had done the work themselves.
By the time it came to me, it was just like fine-tuning loads of little things.
But it was pretty much there.
It does make more of an impact to see everybody on the pitch with the logo blacked out.
I thought the whole thing was great.
I was so excited to get to do it.
Its something thats really close to home for me.
And if you gotta speak out for them, then speak out for them.
Thats what your platform is for.
I was over the moon to get a chance to do that.
But also they have their own professional lives.
That gets called into question a little bit.
Well get to see a bit of the fallout from that.
Lets talk more about Rebecca.
Do you think Sam was attracted to her before they connected on the app?
I think they just immediately had a kinship.
There is immediately a connection there.
And he always remembers that.
At the basis of their friendship, theres a connection there that just everything else doesnt really matter.
And of course, shes incredibly attractive as well.
And so you leave that, and youre more than happy to have a friendship with this person.
The logistics dont matter.
And I think I can do that.
You were saying something a moment ago about Sam being sort of awkward in her presence.
I feel like this season, especially, he seems like a Zen master.
Hes so comfortable in so many situations.
And hes like, This is kind of funny.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A lot of this is the fallout of his relationship with Ted.
He hadnt found himself in this country.
He was struggling to adjust culturally.
Now hes at a place where he can just speak for himself.
Hes also going to Ted in the locker room.
Hes got his friends now.
Hes got his relationship with Roy.
We see that translated into this situation.
But I think now hes found himself, and hes found that confidence.
I think thats also partly what Rebecca likes about Sam.
I also super-loved filming those scenes with Hannah.
Tell me about filming that scene in the restaurant.
You said the two of you were geeking out about doing this.
What was it like when you actually got to play this all out?It was hilarious.
Im not sure how it looks because I actually havent seen episode eight yet.
Theres a montage bit that we shot, where we were just rolling tape.
Thats just our relationship together.
I always say this job is just me kicking a ball around and telling jokes with my friends.
I couldnt have got any more of that doing scenes with Hannah Waddingham.
Hannah has a very, very cool way of making everything not a big deal.
Youre doing a scene with a friend.
It couldnt have been easier.
I really hope we get to do more together in the future.
I wish I could tell you that there was some stuff to wrestle through.
Also, Hannah is really attractive.
Its not that difficult.
Its not a hard assignment.Its not a hard assignment.
I mean, I wish I could be like,Ah, I took one for the team.
I was kind of like,Im glad this is me,you know?
So yeah, it was great.
Shes also incredibly gorgeous, and I mean that inside and out.
Especially Moe [Jeudy-Lamour], who plays Thierry Zoreaux, the goalkeeper.
We have a big thing where we just fight for Hannahs attention.
Go on my social-media posts; youll see me and him bickering about who Hannah prefers.
So yeah, I couldnt wait to do kissing scenes with Hannah.
We just kept taking pictures and sending them to Moe.
Hes just such a positive presence.
And so we really see him stepping up to the plate.
Thats a thing thats happened off-screen thats like a tiny little Easter egg for fans.
But Roy has given that book to Sam.
I think the Twitter fandom has been the thing Ive found the most interesting with all of this stuff.
People just notice everything, and its hilarious.
Fan responses are really nice, especially with the Dubai Air stuff.
Im glad were doing something that makes people feel that way.
