The star of the feel-good Apple TV+ comedy won his first career Emmy for playing the unflappable football coach.
Unlike his beloved titular character on the hit Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis wasn't the underdog at the 2021 Emmy Awards on Sunday.
Sudeikis, who also created and executive produces the series, won his first career Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, following co-stars Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham, who won Outstanding Supporting Actor and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively.
"Thank you very much," Sudeikis said as he took the stage. "This show is about family. This show is about mentors and teachers. This show is about teammates, and I wouldn't be here without those three things in my life."
The actor and comedian thanked his Ted Lasso teammates, his family, and sent a shout-out to his professional mentors and teachers that led him to the Emmys stage, including Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels who was not at his seat, or as, Sudeikis joked, "went to go take a dump now. Perfect."
"He's gonna get home, he's gonna watch it, he loves watching the Emmys at home. It's fine," he continued to laughs from the audience.
He concluded with more emotional thanks to his Ted Lasso co-stars, saying, "I'm only as good as you guys make me look. So really, it means the world to me to be up here and just be a mirror of what you guys give to me and we reflect back and forth on each other."
ET's Nischelle Turner and Kevin Frazier caught up with Sudeikis backstage after his win, where he joked about his statuette being "very pointy. I'm sure everybody says that, but it really is!"
The newly-minted Emmy winner celebrated his birthday on Saturday, and joked that the award is "not bad" as far as presents go.
"Normally, the best gifts are the ones you get from the people you love," he noted. "I can't say that everyone who voted for me loves me. They might really like the show, or even love the show. So I would put it like, seventh all-time greatest birthday gift. "
As for his joke about Michaels? "Once a Not Ready for Prime Time Player, always a Not Ready for Prime Time Player," he teased.
Ted Lasso has been an awards season darling this year, with Sudeikis also winning the Golden Globe, Critics Choice and SAG Awards for his starring role. The show was nominated for 20 awards at this year's Emmys, breaking the record for most nominations for a comedy series in their first season, previously set by Glee in 2010.
The actor and producer of the hit Apple TV+ comedy spoke with ET on the red carpet ahead of Sunday's awards, where he marveled at all the nominations Ted Lasso scored for its first season.
"They're not all me, that's representing the show," he said. "Which I really like. It's a show about a team, what better way [to celebrate] than a bunch of opportunities for a bunch of people to win?"
The feel-good Apple TV+ comedy -- which stars Sudeikis as the unlikely but unflappable new coach of a English soccer club -- scored nods for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Sudeikis, Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Waddingham and Juno Temple, and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed and Jeremy Swift, as well as nominations in writing, directing, casting, production design, sound editing and mixing and main title design.
"It's a good group," Sudeikis said of all the Ted Lasso nominees represented at this year's Emmys, before remarking on the positive reception the feel-good comedy has received so far.
"There's definitely the point of view and philosophy of the character, and that's sort of sprinkled throughout the show, but we had no idea that people were gonna be so wonderfully thirsty for it, and keep wanting to go back for refills," Sudeikis remarked.
In his Critics Choice acceptance speech back in March, Sudeikis thanked his ex, Olivia Wilde, for helping to inspire the series, which is based on a character he originated in a series of ads for NBC Sports' coverage of the English Premier League in 2013.
"I want to thank my kids, Otis and Daisy, and I want to thank their mom, Olivia, who had the initial idea for this as a TV show," he explained. "She was like, 'You guys like doing that so much, you should do it as a movie or a TV show,' and she was right!"
"This has been a whack-ass year," Sudeikis continued, "and this [show] has been a wonderful vessel to hear people's stories of forgiveness and redemption and healing and understanding."
The 2021 Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Cedric the Entertainer, will air live Sunday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS and Paramount+. In the meantime, stay tuned to ETonline.com for complete Emmys coverage.
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