it's no secret that i have a soft spot for ted lasso. the show took me by surprise in 2020 when the laughs and heartwarming moments were just what i needed, and i've been a devoted fan ever since.
in june rumors started circulating about potential filming in kansas city and on a whim i signed up with the casting agency reported to be booking extras for the show, assuming it would be a crazy long shot. as the shoot neared i became increasingly focused, desperately hoping to find a way to get in on the experience. i got my wish and then some in what is now referred to in our house as ted lasso week.
so much happened over those ten days. it was a whirlwind of delight, and these were the highlights:
scouting the filming locations
when shooting began i had no connections to the show, so marta and i embarked on a real life version of where's waldo where we attempted to track down filming locations and gather helpful intel. she happens to be very gifted in this area and early on we were able to scout out one of the homes that was being prepped for a shoot. we logged a lot of miles around town on our quest and were always thrilled when we spotted one of those yellow signs that told us we were getting close to the action.
a sighting in the wild
as the week went on reports popped up of cast members being spotted at restaurants and concerts around town and i became intrigued with the thought of seeing one of them in the wild. i knew friday was scheduled as a day off from filming, so we didn't have plans to go looking for set locations. on a bit of a whim jack and i decided to go to worlds of fun just the two of us, which we had never done before. the plan was to ride some of the rides we can't manage when archie is with us, so instead of taking our usual path to the right after entering the park we called an audible and started off to the left. as we rounded the candy shop on our way to the africa section i noticed a tall, elegant woman walking towards us. she was wearing a hat and swishing her sundress in the heat. my brain was questioning if it could really be her when i looked to the right and saw jason sudeikis standing not ten feet from us.
needless to say i froze in shock, grabbed jack's arm, and quickly tried to calculate what to do about this new development. their group was headed to the viking voyager, so i asked jack if we could abort our plan and go stand on the viewing bridge for that ride. we watched hannah waddingham splash down on the hill and the whole thing was very surreal. we spotted them on and off for the rest of the day, excited to be close but trying not to interrupt their experience.
two days on set
the process of being booked as background happens fairly last minute, so filming had already begun before i really knew i had a shot at being an extra. there is a whole series of steps before you are officially in, and jack can attest that when i got the email with the first booking confirmation i was so excited and relieved i burst into tears.
my first day on set was a hot and sunny one at swope soccer village. i have never been so happy to get up before 6am in my life. it was a long, fourteen and a half hour day, most of which was spent sitting around and waiting. it took a few hours to get everyone processed and in place, and once we were situated i spent about a third of the day in the same spot on a set of bleachers, a third under a tent next to the bleachers, and the other third on an air conditioned charter bus, which was the holding area for background. i also enjoyed taking full advantage of craft services [aka the snack table] on our walks to and from the bus.
it was very interesting to watch all that goes into filming, and fascinating to see the same short scene filmed over and over and over from different angles. while we did pass the cast a number of times as we were all coming and going from the fields, i was a fair distance from the main action so it's unlikely that i will be anything more than a fuzzy blob in this scene. however, our van was granted pole position in the parking lot and has a very good chance of getting some screen time.
i was also booked for a second day at a location so close to my regular life that i initially had trouble processing the information in the email. the fact that this show filmed where i live my actual life is still hard to wrap my head around. there were significantly less extras this time, so while the majority of the day was still down time, we were able to be a little closer to the action.
i was one of the first extras placed, which means i am at the beginning of the scene and therefore could easily be cut. on one had this is a bit of a bummer, but marta was able to track down the set on her own [i wasn't able to share the details with anyone as part of the contract] and ended up in the perfect spot at the perfect time to get photos as we filmed. cast and crew are not allowed to take personal photos on set, so the fact that i have photographic evidence of my day on set and my close proximity to one theodore 'ted' lasso is miraculous.
getting the sign signed
it was fairly common knowledge that the final day of kc filming was taking place at mckeever's market in lee's summit. despite the fact that i had already enjoyed many interactions with the show, i wasn't quite ready for the adventure to be over. knowing our best chance of seeing a cast member would come when shooting wrapped for the day we decided to make an evening of it. i wore my higgins shirt and dressed jack and archie in richmond red and blue. we brought chairs and dinner and set up on the edge of the mckeever's parking lot to see what would happen.
earlier in the day as i had been thinking through our plans it occurred to me that it would be smart to bring some sort of sign to draw attention to our side of the parking lot. i looked up and saw the 'believe' sign i had made years before hanging above our stairs, so i grabbed it off the wall, along with a letter board where i spelled out 'ted lasso and coach beard, please sign our sign'. as the plan came together i instinctively knew that getting my sign signed would be the cherry on top of an already unbelievable week.
we settled into our spot around 6pm and about an hour later a guy who looked like security walked across the parking lot toward us with a big smile on his face. he complimented our sign and asked to take a picture of it and my "higgins" shirt. then he pointed at the letter board and said "is that all you want or were you hoping to get a picture as well?" i said i'd take it all if i could, but having the sign signed would be totally amazing. he responded with "give it here. i can't make any promises but i'll see what i can do."
another hour later he came back out with autographs from ted and beard. we chatted a bit and learned his name was chip and that he'd been working with jason for many years. he was super kind and complimentary of both jason and the show. when we got home i googled him and found out he's kind of a big deal! i'm guessing there are only a handful of people on set with real access to the main cast and the ability to make something like this happen, and we just so happened to meet the right guy.
i still cannot quite believe all that transpired, but the now framed sign above our stairs is proof. as the man once said, "i feel like we fell out of a lucky tree, hit every branch on the way down, and ended up in a pool of cash and sour patch kids."
