English actor Jeremy Swift has become a friendly and familiar face over the past six years, playing the happy-go-lucky AFC Richmond employee “Leslie Higgins” on the hit Ted Lasso Apple TV series. Now, with new episodes of the fourth season dropping weekly, following a three-year hiatus, Swift has reprised his role while continuing to bring the same humor and heart that audiences have come to expect from this 13-time Emmy winning comedy series.
Prior to landing his Ted Lasso role, Swift was also known for his regular appearances on Downton Abbey and other British shows. With the help of Ted Lasso global success, Swift is now rather well-known around the world, including in the U.S., which has brought him new acting opportunities in such projects as Disney’s 2024 Descendants movie and voicing “Doc” in Disney’s 2025 live-action Snow White movie.
We sat down with Swift last week to discuss his feelings on returning to the expanding Ted Lasso TV universe, what it’s really like working alongside Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham and his hopes on the positive impact that the new season’s AFC Richmond Lady Greyhounds team focus could have on our real world.
Swift has always been one of the show’s secret weapons. Higgins may not command a room quite like Rebecca Welton or inspire a team with one of Ted’s impassioned speeches, but he is often the person working behind the scenes to keep Richmond from falling apart. As Season 4 shifts its attention toward the establishment of AFC Richmond’s women’s team, that steadying presence becomes more essential than ever.
Before any of that could happen, however, Swift first had to learn that Ted Lasso was actually coming back. His discovery was considerably less glamorous than fans might expect.
“I was going to the loo in the middle of the night, because I’m a man of a certain age,” Swift recalled with a laugh. While checking social media, he saw reports about the show’s return appearing online. Confirmation from his American representatives quickly followed: “Yay, it’s back.”
For Swift, returning was about far more than simply getting another opportunity to play Higgins. “I just love the whole team—the cast and crew,” he said. “It’s such a pleasure to work with everybody on such a high-standard show.”
“I’m sort of overwhelmed to be in it,” he admitted. “It was just a reminder of the quality of the show, its heart, how progressive it is, and how forward-thinking the comedy is.”
Higgins Takes on the Lady Greyhounds
Season 4 introduces audiences to the Lady Greyhounds, AFC Richmond’s new women’s team. Swift is particularly enthusiastic about the performers joining the Ted Lasso family.
“We’ve got a fantastic new bunch of actors—the young women who are playing the Lady Greyhounds,” he said. “They’re all really so distinctive, and I’m very excited for people to see them and get to know them.”
The storyline also allows Ted Lasso to examine something that is often overlooked amid the growing enthusiasm surrounding women’s sports: the struggle to build lasting support at the club level.
Higgins is charged with finding a way to make the team financially sustainable, a responsibility Swift jokingly acknowledged may not immediately sound like the most exciting television premise. In the hands of the show’s writers, though, the practical challenge becomes both funny and meaningful.
“That’s a real thing,” Swift said. “Keeley and Rebecca have to galvanize the community and get them to support the team at a club level. I think that might be a bit of an eye-opener for people. Hopefully, people go, ‘Oh, yeah, maybe I should support my women’s team at club level.’”
It is the kind of ambition that has always separated Ted Lasso from more conventional television comedies. The series wants to entertain, but it also wants the audience to reconsider how we support people and communities that are still fighting for equal recognition.
An Unexpected Lesson in Kansas City
One of Higgins’ most affecting early moments comes during a visit to Kansas City. After discovering that the American Jazz Museum is closed for a private event, he visits the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum instead.
There, Higgins learns about the experiences of Black baseball players and the barriers they faced in America. What begins as an unexpected detour becomes an important lesson that shapes how he approaches Richmond’s women’s team.
“He learns about the journey of men of color playing baseball in America and how difficult it was,” Swift explained. “It’s a lesson for him that he didn’t expect about how to move forward with the women’s team. It’s just beautiful writing from Joe Kelly.”
Swift also praised Milan Carter’s performance in the episode, noting how Carter helps make the encounter feel personal rather than simply instructional.
The scene captures one of Higgins’ most endearing qualities: his willingness to listen. He may enter the museum outside his comfort zone, but he remains open to discovering something that can change his perspective. In a television landscape where so many characters resist growth to preserve the familiar rhythms of a series, Higgins continues to evolve.
Higgins Becomes a Sleuth
Swift remained understandably careful about revealing too much of the season’s larger storyline, but he did offer one intriguing warning about what awaits AFC Richmond.
“Higgins really wants to get the women’s team into a good place without damaging the men’s team,” he said. “There’s a lot of fun to be had.”
That balancing act apparently becomes much more complicated as the season progresses.
“Further down the line, the ownership of the team becomes in doubt, and it gets a little bit scary,” Swift teased. “He has to do some sleuthing later on, which was a lot of fun. There are some really fun episodes toward the end of the season for Higgins.”
The idea of Higgins conducting an investigation feels like a perfect use of Swift’s talents. Few actors are better at finding comedy in discomfort, nervous determination, and the quiet realization that a situation may be spiraling wildly beyond his control.
Swift agrees that Higgins is one of Richmond’s unsung heroes, even if the character himself would probably be embarrassed by the description.
“He’s a very work-oriented character, and his domestic life is fairly stable,” Swift said. “His energy is really focused on the work and helping everybody else. He’s really about making everybody else work well.”
Or, as Zava once put it more succinctly: Higgins is the glue.
Finding a Rhythm With Hannah Waddingham
Some of Higgins’ finest moments have come opposite Hannah Waddingham’s Rebecca, and Swift believes their natural chemistry may be connected to their shared musical backgrounds.
Waddingham was already an acclaimed musical theater performer before becoming an international television star, while Swift is a lifelong musician and singer whose parents were both music teachers.
“There’s a commonality with comic rhythms and music,” he explained. “There’s a crossover there.”
That shared sense of timing allows the two performers to arrive prepared while still keeping their scenes spontaneous.
Swift described Waddingham as “astute,” “really professional,” and “always on it,” while also emphasizing the tremendous fun they have working together.
“The first time we go through something, we usually hit the ground running,” he said.
Swift’s own musical interests have even shaped Higgins. He once casually mentioned to Jason Sudeikis that he played the double bass, inspiring the instrument to become part of the character’s life and eventually leading to Higgins’ memorable musical material in the Season 3 episode “Sunflowers.”
Outside the series, Swift has nearly completed his third album and plans to release a new single toward the end of the year.
“People don’t quite get me with the music,” he acknowledged. “But it’s the process and the artistry—I just love doing it.”
Why Ted Lasso Still Stands Apart
Swift credits Downton Abbey with raising his profile in the United States and believes Ted Lasso subsequently opened doors to opportunities he may not otherwise have received. Those projects include the independent film Welcome to the Fishbowl, in which he plays the male lead, and a decidedly serious BBC role as a ghost hunter and exorcist.
The latter required Swift to suppress the comic instincts that have made Higgins so beloved.
“Don’t tweak the scene,” he remembered telling himself. “This is dark. Don’t improvise.”
Yet Higgins remains a character perfectly matched with Swift’s ability to locate humor without sacrificing sincerity. That combination also reflects what Swift believes continues to distinguish Ted Lasso in an increasingly crowded television landscape.
“The writing, the vision of it, and the detail—it’s so multi-textured,” Swift said. “It’s a show that people watch more than once. The characters have an arc. They evolve much quicker than a lot of sitcoms do.”
After four seasons inside Higgins’ sensible sweaters, Swift knows precisely what he would tell the loyal Richmond executive if they ever had the opportunity to speak face-to-face.
“You’re doing a good job, mate,” Swift said. “You can be a little bit cheekier if you want to—and spend time with your family.”
It is simple advice, but then again, that has always been the beauty of Higgins. He never needs the grandest speech or the loudest entrance. He simply keeps showing up, doing the work, and helping everyone around him become a little better.
And as AFC Richmond enters a new and uncertain era, the club may need its glue more than ever.
