Ted Lasso, a fictional soccer coach, used a White House visit Monday to encourage people, even in politically divided Washington, to check in with friends, family, and coworkers on a regular basis to “ask how they’re doing, and listen, really.”
Comedian Jason Sudeikis, who plays the main character, an American who coaches a soccer club in London, and other cast members met with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden to discuss how mental health affects general well-being.
Sudeikis told reporters from the lectern as he helped press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre launch her daily White House briefing that “Ted Lasso” is about mental health and caring for one another. The third season of the Emmy-winning, feel-good show for Apple TV+ has officially begun.
“While it’s easier said than done, we also have to know that we shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help ourselves,” Sudeikis said. “That does take a lot, especially when it’s something that has such a negative stigma to it, such as mental health and it doesn’t need to be that way.”
“And if you can ask for that help from a professional, fantastic,” he continued. “If it needs to be a loved one, equally as good, in a lot of ways.”
Biden’s bipartisan “unity program” includes mental health
Biden’s bipartisan “unity program” includes mental health. He has asked lawmakers to devote more resources to combating what some term a crisis. The administration has increased financing for a new 988 suicide and crisis line and the placement of more mental-health specialists in schools.
Sudeikis believes there should be no shame associated with seeking help because everyone knows someone who has needed a shoulder to cry on, or has been that person themselves.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all probably, I assume, we all know someone who has or has been that someone ourselves actually, that’s struggled, that’s felt isolated, that’s felt anxious, that has felt alone,” he said.
“It’s actually one of the many things, believe it or not, that we all have in common as human beings,” Sudeikis continued. “That means it’s something that we can all, you know, and should, talk about with one another when we’re feeling that way or when we recognize that in someone feeling that way.”
Sudeikis made a special appeal to residents of the nation’s capital
“I know in this town a lot of folks don’t always agree, right, and don’t always feel heard, seen, listened to,” Sudeikis said. “But I truly believe we should all do our best to help care for each other. That’s my own personal belief. I think that’s something that everyone up here on stage believes in.”
According to the White House, the Bidens have seen some of “Ted Lasso” and are familiar with its lessons of hope and generosity.
Cast members Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, and Toheeb Jimoh joined Sudeikis at the daily briefing. According to a White House official, the group was given a tour of the president’s private living quarters.
When he departed the briefing room, Sudeikis was asked whether he would do his “Saturday Night Live” Joe Biden impression, but he declined, adding that “they got the real one here now.”
Sudeikis and the cast were the latest entertainers to visit the White House and link themselves with causes that the Democratic president and first lady are raising awareness about.
During the pandemic, singer Olivia Rodrigo traveled to encourage young people like herself to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The prominent Korean boy band BTS has worked to promote Asian inclusiveness and battle prejudice towards Asian Americans.
Last year, after a massacre at an elementary school in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, that murdered 19 children and two teachers, actor Matthew McConaughey made a passionate plea for stricter gun legislation.
Singer/actors Mary J. Blige and Selena Gomez performed with Jill Biden at separate events focusing on cancer awareness and teenage mental health, respectively, and singers Sam Smith and Cyndi Lauper performed on the day Biden signed gay marriage legislation into law in December.
