WATCH LIVE: Ted Lasso cast at press briefing ahead of mental health discussion with Biden
Rachel Schilke
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The cast of Ted Lasso is making an appearance at the White House press briefing ahead of a meeting with President Joe Biden on Monday to discuss the importance of mental health.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be hosting actor Jason Sudeikis, who plays the television coach the show is named after, and other members of the cast at the White House. Other actors from the show include Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris, and James Lance.
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The White House said the president will “welcome Jason Sudeikis and the cast of Ted Lasso to the White House to discuss the importance of addressing your mental health to promote overall well-being.”
On Sunday, Biden tweeted “Tomorrow” with a photo of a yellow poster that reads, “BELIEVE,” above the door to the Oval Office — a reference to a similar poster in Ted Lasso above Lasso’s office door in the AFC Richmond locker room.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1637574673494933506
The storyline of Ted Lasso features several arcs relating to mental health, as Lasso himself seeks therapy after battling panic attacks.
“In regard to the mental health stuff, it was just there. It’s been there forever, but it’s really come up a lot in just knowing where the characters were headed and how important it is to work on yourself to help your team,” Sudeikis said in a 2021 interview with Us Weekly. “And I think that we were trying to explore that and personify it in a way and kind of Trojan horse that there’s bigger issues in this fun, silly little comedy show.”
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Biden focused on mental health as part of his “unity agenda” in his 2022 State of the Union address, aiming to “transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, treated, and integrated — in and out of health care settings.”
The meeting is set to begin at 3:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon.