The Backstage Experience: Ted Lasso, The Odyssey, GTA VI & Moana

The Backstage Experience starts now. Welcome to the Backstage Experience, as we take you backstage with the biggest names and games in entertainment. World Cup fever is sweeping the planet, so we're taking you backstage with your favorite football show, Ted Lasso, with coach Jason Sudeikis. Christopher Nolan takes us behind the lens of his new epic, The Odyssey, and Dwayne Johnson channels the Hawaiian god Maui in the live-action adaptation of Moana. Plus, this week in gaming, a $75 million esports prize is up for grabs, college football gets a massive upgrade, and new GTA VI gameplay takes us back to Vice City. That's all coming up this week, only on The Backstage Experience. Welcome to The Backstage Experience. I'm Dave Morales. And I'm John Stenvall. All right, what's going on this week? Everybody's talking about the World Cup. Dude, the World Cup, of course, I mean, we're about to get to the final round, so we had to talk to Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso. Because it's football. All about the World Cup, football, plus season four's coming out. Yeah, every time you say soccer this time of year, when the World Cup is playing, people go, no, it's football. Football. Football Mundial. All right, let's take a look at Ted Lasso. What you're doing is irresponsible. This club actually means something to this town. You don't think I see that every day out there on the streets? Are you kidding me? I think that's what it's all about. Embracing change. Shame team! Being brave. Your decision to bench Jamie was a masterstroke. I don't think we're allowed to talk like that at work anymore. Jason, it's good to see you again, man. Nice to see you too. How did the whole thing start? Because I know it was promotional for EPL, but the initial idea for Ted Lasso, and putting that skit together, and putting it together with Brendan, how did that all come together, come about? Yeah, basically, NBC Sports had acquired the rights to show the Premier League here in the States, and they hired an ad company, an ad agency, called the Brooklyn Brothers, which actually happened to be, yes, based in Brooklyn, no, based in Manhattan, but two guys from London. And they presented to me four or five different ideas, one of which was an American coach coaching soccer in London. And the idea they had was based on a coach character I'd played a few times, or at least an energy that I'd played on SNL, who was a little bit more like a Bobby Knight, kind of a yeller and screamer. And I was like, well, I feel like it'd be kind of fun to play like this Mr. Rogers, kind of Jimmy Stewart version of a, almost like a Southern version of John Wooden from UCLA. And they sport to that, and so then I knew exactly to bring on Brendan Hunt, as you mentioned, and Joe Kelly, our third buddy, to do those commercials. And they're both now writers and producers on the show, and Brendan obviously plays my assistant, Coach Beard, in the commercials and the program. But yeah, we did the first one, and it really worked, and it hit. It worked, we got eyeballs on soccer here in the States and et cetera, and so we got to do a second one. And in doing that second one, we kind of spent a little bit more time with the character and unlocked the enthusiasm and eternal optimism because the first commercial was all about Ted getting hired and fired really, really quick from the Tottenham Hotspurs. And the fact that we thought it was so funny that he loved his brief time there, and he fell in love with football and soccer, and when he moved home to the States. And so that just was like, oh, this could be a show. And we spent a week writing a pilot and outlining this series, a season-long series, and it had legs. And then two years later, the universe dropped baby Bill Lawrence on our doorstep and couldn't have been more lucky there. And then two years later, here I am in a chat with you about it. What is it about Ted Lasso that you appreciate most? For me, it's his blind optimism. No matter what, I mean, he's coming in, he's getting that locker room riled up. He may be dealing with some things in his personal life, but he's not letting that affect himself on the pitch. What is it about Ted Lasso that you enjoy the most? I love his curiosity. You know, I think there's, I think, you know, especially in, you know, boys and growing up boys, you know, the combination of ignorance and arrogance is pretty off-putting to me. I think it can lead you to some, it's just a lot of crap you gotta deal with when someone's that way. But Ted, while clearly ignorant, is curious. So it's his curiosity, too, that I really, really love. He takes people at face value. A lot of people put their own stuff on them, and I think we all have a tendency to do that these days, whether it be online or even face-to-face. And I like that Ted is present with people and takes them for who they are based on the actions that he sees and what he hears from them through their own words. Juno, Phil, Brett, it's good to see both of you. I see they got Juno in between the two of y'all so we don't get in a fight on this interview. Very sensible, very sensible. So I wanna start off. Did you guys base y'all's characters on any real players? Yeah, I did. I went for the most sort of arrogant and sort of flashy players I could imagine. I'd say it was Olivier Giroud's hair, Chelsea player, I guess James Madison's hair and also Eric Lamella's hair and maybe Ronaldo's hair as well. So yeah, mostly it was about the hair for me. A lot of hair-based choices. How about for you, Brett? For me, you know, Roy Keane was obviously an inspiration. I feel like he had the anger of Roy Keane and the poetic heart of Eric Cantona and the ability to kick a fan from quite far away. Since y'all both play football players, not soccer players. Actually, does it annoy y'all when Americans say soccer, by the way? I don't wanna be rude to you, but yes. I don't take it personally, but you know, I get it. So I got some football terms for all three of y'all to see if y'all know them. So the first one is keepy-uppy. Do y'all know what a keepy-uppy is? I was trying to say that yesterday. Yeah, that's where you just like- Yeah, keep the ball up, don't let it touch the floor. Perfect. What about a nutmeg? And you actually have this in the series. Between the legs. Kicking a ball between your opponent's legs. Brett got that a lot. Okay, how about super sub? Super sub, Teddy Sheringham for Manchester United, Olivier Giroud for Chelsea. Somebody who comes on late in the game, scores a goal. Awesome. And then one of my favorite plays that y'all do in the series involves a dummy. What's a dummy? Pretending to go one way, going the other way. Is that a fake? Is that a duke? It's a duke. What, you call it a duke in America? It's when you kick the ball and you act like you're gonna get the ball and then you let the ball pass through to the next player. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the person setting up is a dummy. I mean, it's also going one way or the other way. Yeah. Is it? Okay. I'm an American. You would know much better than I would. So to wrap it up, what are y'all's favorite EPL teams or do you have a favorite EPL team? Always love it when, I never hear EPL other than Americans say EPL, English Premier League. I don't know what EPL means. Yeah, I was like, what's... Premier League, the Premier League team. I taught them Hotspur on my team. Yeah. Taught them to Leicester. I'd say, I'll say this because my best friend supports Arsenal. Sorry, Brad. What are you doing? I care about him more than you. That's hurtful. Wow. Wow, brutal. I grew up in a household with a dad that supports Arsenal and a brother that supports Chelsea. So I stay clear of making any decisions. Just like to be fluid, you know, keep the peace. How about you, John? Who's your team? Who's your EPL team? Man, I have Arsenal fans and I have friends that are Chelsea. And so I can't go either way for them. So I hate to be the Dallas Cowboys of the Premier League, but man, you. Listen, listen, do like what I do. Forget Premier League, AFC Wimbledon. That's the greatest team that ever was. They play down in League One, but they are the greatest team of all time. They're the greatest team in League One. They are not the greatest team in League One. In fact, they're 17. That's why they're pretty bad. Thank you so much, guys. Ted Lasso is now streaming on Apple TV+. It's great catching up with all three of y'all. Thank you, John. Cheers, man. Next on The Backstage Experience, Christopher Nolan takes you behind the lens as we get an exclusive first look at The Odyssey with the legendary filmmaker. Only on The Backstage Experience. Welcome back to The Backstage Experience. Now, I've seen this movie already, and I'll tell you, it's not just going to a movie. This is an event. And I'm talking, of course, about the movie, The Odyssey. I have to see this. I have not seen it yet. Dave got to see it. I have to see this in IMAX, and I'm main drive hours away if I have to see it in 70 millimeter. I did see it in 70 millimeter. It's fantastic. So how did Christopher Nolan, the director, make this movie, and how did he film quiet scenes with an IMAX camera? Those are loud cameras. He's going to set you up, tell you all that went into making The Odyssey. After years of war. Great to see you again. Congratulations. Thank you. We haven't seen each other since Oppenheimer, so kudos for that and everything that came with that. You've done it again. This is just outstanding. What was it like for you? What excited you to look through the camera and watch this as you were making this? So many different things. I mean, there's so much. As a director, you get to bring together an incredible group of people, and you get to travel the world. I mean, we were shooting the most incredible scenery all over the world, and then putting these unbelievable movie stars in extraordinary costumes with amazing props. It's a world-building exercise. And I think movies, for me, always are, to some degree. You're always trying to find what the world is and what the consistency of tone is. The Odyssey, it was a type of world-building I'd never done before, and a type of place I'd never got to visit with the camera before. So there was just an embarrassment of riches in terms of what you got to photograph every day and what you got to experience. Challenges of working with IMAX. I've seen the YouTube videos. They're loud. They're very loud. Okay, you just affirmed that for me. They're very loud. How do you work around that? Well, over the years, we've incorporated IMAX more and more into our films, starting with The Dark Knight, where we filmed the prologue, the introduction of the Joker, opening the film, all on IMAX. It was the first time anybody had used IMAX film cameras for a Hollywood movie, a dramatic feature. And then over the years, we did more and more of the action that way. But because of the loudness of the cameras, doing intimate scenes, doing dialogue scenes was impossible. So the challenge we set to IMAX, I've always wanted to do a film entirely on IMAX, but because of the loudness of the cameras, we haven't been able to do that. But they were building new cameras and they were able to build for us a very high-tech blimping system. It's like a big box that you put the camera into and that muffles the sound so that you can get the camera right in by the actor's face and get a beautiful close-up and record the dialogue and have the actor perform without the noise of a lawnmower right next to them. And so we were able, for the first time ever, we were able to do the entire film, every frame of the movie, shot on IMAX. Yeah, the videos I've seen, it sounds like a really big truck going through your neighborhood. Yeah, basically, yeah. When you first saw the Trojan horse, of course, we see it in the film, no spoilers, but you see it and I'm just thinking, what was that like to see it in person? It was incredible. I saw it, you know, we worked on the design, Ruth DeYoung, the designer, myself, and then, you know, talked to construction and we built it in Los Angeles before we went abroad to shoot on location. And so I was seeing pieces of it. I was seeing a leg, a bit of a head, looking at samples of it and everything, but getting to Morocco and sort of driving over, you know, over the hill and seeing it planted in the sand exactly where I wanted it to be, you know, with the waves coming in. I mean, it was just an absolute thrill. I could not wait to get the camera out and just start shooting. I mean, it's just such an incredible thing to see. Tell me about the lasting power of this story. This story precedes everything, pretty much, and we're still fascinated by it. Well, it's a foundational text for Western literature. As I adapted it, I found all of my other movies are in there, you know, everything from Interstellar to The Dark Knight. You know, it's all, all stories are kind of contained in this foundational epic, and it's fascinated, you know, different cultures for 3,000 years. And I think the reason is it's a very, very human story. It's a story of family. It's a coming-of-age story, and it's a homecoming story, a story about war and loss and love. I mean, it's just all in there. It's an incredible tale, and I think it will always fascinate us. I think every generation will have their own relationship with this story, and so we really wanted to bring it to modern cinema. Only on The Backstage Experience. Welcome back to The Backstage Experience, and of course, along with the World Cup, there has to be video games, and people are playing, I mean, not just soccer, but Futbol Mundial. Well, NCAA College Football 27 actually comes out this week. Yeah, it does. So David Johnson's gonna give us a preview of that and all the breaking news in gaming, plus breaking news on GTA 6. This week in gaming, the Esports World Cup has a world-class prize, college football is back for a new entry, GTA 6 news right around the corner, and a pirate's life is the life for me. All that and more coming up this week on The Backstage Experience. The Esports World Cup is accelerating faster than anything the industry's ever seen, and this year, competitive gaming crosses a historic threshold. The 2026 event kicks off this week in Paris until August 23rd, and is set to feature 25 events in 24 different esports. The EWC, or Esports World Cup, has united the biggest lineup of esports titles under one banner, backed by a staggering $75 million prize pool across all events, the largest payout in esports history. The Esports World Cup will unify players, teams, and organizations across shooters, MOBAs, sports titles, and fighting games. Around it, a full competitive infrastructure is applied, including world-class arenas, broadcast hubs, and training facilities engineered for high-pressure international play. College football is right around the corner, and this year, EA College Football 27 feels like a full rebuild, not a yearly update. The headline upgrade is the new Campus IQ Engine, a smarter AI system that finally delivers the true college-style unpredictability, blown coverages, momentum swings, and play-calling that adapts to the crowd energy and rivalry pressure. Dynasty Mode gets its biggest overhaul in several years. Recruiting is deeper, NIL negotiations are fully interactive, and player progression is now tied into coaching schemes, training intensity, and real-time morale. Your program doesn't just grow, it evolves over time based on the amount of effort that you put in. Road to Glory is transformed, too. A new branching storyline system tracks your decisions on and off the field, shaping your career, your reputation, and even your draft stock that connects into Madden 27 upon release. And for the first time, EA adds cross-play, revamped playbooks, and over 150 fully scanned stadiums. EA College Football 27 is available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC starting today. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced isn't just a remake, it's a full resurrection of one of the franchise's greatest adventures. Ubisoft rebuilt the entire experience on the newest version of the Anvil engine, transforming Edward Kenway's pirate saga into a modern, open-world epic. The Caribbean is sharper and more alive than ever, with storm systems shifting in real time, ocean physics reacting to every wave, and ship-to-ship combat hitting with a weight the original never had. Story moments are rebuilt with new performances, expanded scenes, and richer emotional beats that deepen Edward's rise from outlaw to assassin. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC starting today. And finally, with T-minus four months to go until GTA VI, Rockstar has released the pre-order options, as well as more details for the single-player experience. Grand Theft Auto VI is officially set in Vice City in the state of Leonida, or Florida, and Rockstar calls it the biggest, most immersive evolution in the series' history. At the center of the story are Jason and Lucia, two small-time criminals who find themselves trapped in a massive conspiracy stretching across the entire state after a simple job goes violently wrong. GTA VI will launch with two editions on November 19th on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. The Standard Edition will retail for $80, but the Ultimate Edition will retail for $100. This weekend, Moana sails into theaters as Dwayne the Rock Johnson returns as the demigod Maui in Disney's live-action adaptation. Before we go, we revisit our first conversation with DJ as Maui. Only on The Backstage Experience. Welcome back to The Backstage Experience as a live-action Moana. I was thinking of the song that The Rock sings. You're welcome. And he actually sings pretty good. Yeah, it wasn't bad. And we've got The Rock, if you can smell what he's cooking, right here on The Backstage Experience. Take a look. Are you ready to be the hero? Let's go save the world. I got your back. Dude, as long as I have known you, I did not know that you had this singing voice right there. Ah. Wow. That's not me. Yeah, it is. Stop it. Lin-Manuel, I just talked to him. He gave you props, by the way. It means a lot, by the way. He really, really was like, man, he can sing. I had a blast. I had a blast, you know, and the idea was when they said, you know, we have this idea where you're gonna sing and Lin is gonna write the song, but he also wrote it where you would sing and then a little bit of rap. You lay some bars in. What do you think? And I heard the song. I loved it. And, you know, we laid it down. And I just, I honestly had the best time. Tell me about your inner Maui, the character that is Maui. I love the character of Maui, right? So in Polynesian folklore and in our own storytelling culturally, Maui is someone, all the kids, we all grew up on stories of Maui, right? So, and he's a trickster. He talks trash. He's big. He's vibrant. He's responsible for pulling up islands out of the ocean, pulling down the sun. So there is, I can't think of another character that I've played or probably will ever play like Maui who does all these things and sings. Raps a little. Gets told off by little 15 year old girls. 15 year old girls is great.