Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

On Feb. 13, Penn State Behrend hosted the regular installment of its Speaker Series event, with Brendan Hunt as the guest speaker. Hunt is perhaps most famous for his iconic role as the solemn yet beloved Coach Beard on Apple TV’s hit show “Ted Lasso.” 

Hunt is a co-creator of “Ted Lasso,” as well as being on the regular cast for the show, and has written several plot points for the series. The series has done so well that it won an Emmy for best Outstanding Comedy Series for its first and second seasons. 

Hunt took the stage in McGarvey at about 7:30 p.m., with the room full of students and local community members. Ashley Kaminski, Coordinators for Student Leadership and Involvement at Behrend, joined Hunt on stage to moderate the talk. 

Chancellor Ralph Ford opened the event by taking the stage and speaking to the crowd about “Ted Lasso” and Hunt’s overall accomplishments before he took the step. Ford closed his remarks by asking the group to welcome Hunt to the stage, which was met by an eruption of applause. 

Kaminski began by asking Hunt about his history, trying to get a background of his work to understand what led him to his recent role. Hunt talked about how he began in Chicago, where he grew up, doing improv work. 

Hunt also discussed how he eventually left Chicago to try and find work in Amsterdam, where he did a couple of small films. He also mentioned that part of the benefit of being in Amsterdam was that random filmmakers would receive grants to create these short films. 

When referring to the two films Hunt had the opportunity to act in a while living in Amsterdam, he joked, “In both of these films, I am terrible,” he stated, prompting a round of laughter from the crowd. “I am also in them only briefly.” 

Hunt was delightful to watch on stage and may have even been incredibly amusing to those who had not seen “Ted Lasso” because of his demeanor throughout the evening. Many of Kaminski’s interview questions while on stage were met with quick, witty remarks. 

He also spoke very casually with the audience and used various voices and accents to emphasize points and humor in the stories he told. 

At one point early on, Hunt was asked a question that he responded to with vulgar language. There was a brief pause, and then he took a side-bar moment to address his language. 

“With all apologies to the respectful academic environment, there’s no way I’m not gonna curse,” he stated. The crowd then erupted in laughter again, a round of applause following this response. 

The talk was not all light in subject manner, which makes sense considering “Ted Lasso” goes on to address many real-life issues profoundly. While still being asked about his background in the film industry, Hunt began talking about the time when he had just moved back to the United States and now was living in Los Angeles. 

Hunt talked about how he was attempting to deliver an audition tape to a woman in the city in his first week of moving to LA. The audition tape was filmed on VHS for the American version of “The Office.” 

Hunt joked several times about this tape being delivered on a VHS, poking fun at the old technology, but he had borrowed a friend’s car to deliver it. He got in a car accident on his way, later stating that he took it very hard at the time. 

It had been Hunt’s first week living in LA, which was not a great way to start. He talked about his belief that sometimes, “Fate would intervene in a very violent way.” 

This portion of the talk, which focused on his early struggles at making a career, prompted Kaminski to ask about whether Hunt ever gave himself a time frame for when he would give up on making it in film and what made him want to focus on this as a career in the first place. 

“I’d known, probably since I set foot on the Illinois campus for theater, that there was nothing else I was ever going to do,” Hunt stated in response. “No, a time frame never felt right.” 

Kaminski then joked, stating “Well, it seems to have gone alright for you,” to which Hunt responded with a quippy remark that the entire audience found interesting. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” exclaimed Hunt. “It could all go bust tonight; I have never been to Pennsylvania until this very night.” 

Later in the night, when asked about his role in “Parks and Recreation,” Hunt used the audience to describe what it was like sitting there all day filming a scene. Hunt stated, “I was sitting roughly there where the man in the visor is sitting,” gesturing to a man in the audience.  “I assume you’re a golfer, sir,” Hunt exclaimed, poking fun at the man’s visor and prompting another eruption of laughter from the crowd. 

Kaminski was later asking Hunt about his role in “We’re the Millers,” which prompted Hunt to tell a clarifying story. He had been cast in “We’re the Millers” and had filmed a scene, so it is listed on his IMDB profile. However, he was cut from the movie.  

However, he talked about enjoying being cast in that particular film in a humorous way. Hunt said that when you are thrown into a role you care about and respect, “It makes the voices have to shut up because you are doing good.” 

Several times prior throughout the night, Hunt had mentioned being close friends with Jason Sadekis. Still, now we were getting to the part of their relationship relevant to how they ended up the subjects of the beloved “Ted Lasso.” 

Jason, as Hunt lovingly referred to him throughout the night, has a significant role in “We’re the Millers” and had to give Hunt a call before the film aired. He told him he had been cut from the film but then went on to invite him to work on a set of soccer commercials. These same commercials would spawn the creation of the “Ted Lasso” series. 

Hunt said it was the “Best bad news good news phone call I will ever get in my entire life.” 

While the above points were arguably the sweetest, most touching details revealed tonight, there were many other comical high points of the evening. Kaminski went on to ask Hunt what he thought “success” would look like for him in the next five to ten years.” 

This immediately prompted Hunt to comically take a large breath and exclaim, “Oof,” before continuing to joke, “Not being in jail for vehicular manslaughter, that’s always a plus.” 

Fans of the show may be upset to hear that shortly after, Hunt stated, “We don’t know if there will be a season four [of “Ted Lasso”], but we do know if there is, it won’t be for a minute.” 

However, in better news for fans of the show, Hunt stated later that night during the question and answer section that Hunt was asked about the hopeful release date of season three. He then responded, “I can’t say anything about when it’s coming out, but I think it may be sooner than you think, and I think you may know sooner than you think.”

Hunt also took time to respond to a question about when his interest in soccer began, which led to a passionate rant on why more people truly should enjoy the sport. He said he was always a major sports fan, but living in Amsterdam without access to American sports spawned the love of soccer he holds today. 

“Anyone who said soccer wasn’t worth my time was wrong! They lied,” exclaimed Hunt loudly on stage. “And, it is over two hours which is [mwahhh],” he said, gesturing widely to the crowd.

He also took a few moments here to express how when you are a soccer fan, the world works in four-year increments, waiting for the World Cup. 

The next World Cup is set to be in the U.S., which prompted Beard to exclaim, “My kid will be only six years old, I don’t care. He’c coming! He’s drinking!” starting a round of laughter from the audience. 

Near the end of the talk, Hunt spoke more about how he came to work on “Ted Lasso” after doing the set of commercials that led to its creation, explaining that when Jason was pitching the show, there was no other option. He told producers essentially that Hunt was his friend, and he would be playing his assistant, or he was not interested. 

Another common and recurring joke throughout the night fans of the show may find funny is Beard’s constant references to the possibility of Rebecca and Ted having sex. Beard stated, “And we knew that eventually Rebecca and Ted would have sex! Oh my god! Spoiler!” and later on, “I guess watching Jason and Hannah do that sex scene.” 

Several other humorous comments were made about it throughout the night, and now fans will watch with intrigue to see how much of the show Coach Beard gave away. 

As it became time for the night to end during the question and answer session, Kaminski stated they had time for one more question, which prompted Hunt to ask her, “What if I just gave very fast answers to all the rest of them?” 

This question made Behrend appreciate him more, hitting every student in line question before wrapping up for the night. A round of applause echoed across the room as Brendan Hunt exited the stage, and now Behrend students await the next installment of the Speaker Series.