Who is Roy Kent in Ted Lasso?

Show

Ted Lasso

Played by

Brett Goldstein

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired August 14, 2020

Role

Main cast

Network

Apple TV+

Occupation

Richmond captain, then coach and manager

Show run

2020 to present

Also known as

Roy, Kent, Coach Kent

Roy Kent is the aging captain of AFC Richmond, a once-great midfielder with a permanent scowl and a vocabulary built mostly on one swear word. Played by Brett Goldstein, he goes from resenting Ted Lasso to becoming one of his coaches, and eventually the club's manager.

On Ted Lasso, Roy Kent's story runs through Keeley Jones (Girlfriend), Jamie Tartt (Rival turned Friend), Ted Lasso (Coach), Rebecca Welton (Boss), and Coach Beard (Fellow Coach).

Who is Roy Kent?

When Ted arrives, Roy is the team's captain and its most respected player, a former Chelsea star now near the end of his career. He has no patience for the new American coach and makes that clear, but he also stands up for the club's kit man, Nate, when the younger players bully him. Off the pitch he dotes on his young niece, Phoebe.

Roy's knee gives out in the final match of season one, ending his playing days. He tries retirement, coaches Phoebe's under-nine girls' team, and becomes a surprise hit as a TV pundit before realizing how much he misses being part of the game.

Personality and comedy

Roy speaks in growls, glares, and bursts of profanity, and much of his comedy comes from how hard he works to hide that he cares about everyone. His rivalry with Jamie Tartt, the club's arrogant young striker, starts as open hostility and slowly turns into something close to brotherhood.

His romance with Keeley Jones reveals a softer, more awkward side. Roy is honest to a fault and terrible at expressing big feelings, so his attempts at romance, from rushing through ten required dates to a long-delayed declaration of love, are as funny as they are sweet. The Richmond fans' chant that he is here, there, and everywhere became one of the show's signatures.

Key storylines

Roy and Keeley get together after she breaks up with Jamie, and their relationship runs through season two. Midway through that season he walks off a Sky Sports broadcast and onto the Richmond sideline to join Ted's staff. Season three opens with Roy and Keeley breaking up, and by its end Ted names Roy his successor as Richmond's head coach.

In season four Roy is still running the men's team, having won the FA Cup as manager. He and Keeley find their way back to each other, she learns she is pregnant with his child, and in the season finale he accepts an offer to manage Chelsea, the club where he made his name as a player.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Brett Goldstein was a writer on Ted Lasso before he was cast as Roy, and he won the part after emailing the producers a self-taped audition. The character is widely reported to be modeled mainly on the famously fierce Irish midfielder Roy Keane.

Goldstein won back-to-back Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, in 2021 and 2022, and was nominated again for season three. Roy's scowls, his growls, and that chant have made him one of the most quoted characters on the show.

Roy Kent: frequently asked questions

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