The Actor Replacement In Ted Lasso Season 4 That Is Bothering Fans

Contains spoilers for "Ted Lasso" Season 4, Episode 1 — "Home" 

It's been more than three years since "Ted Lasso" was last on our screens, with this fourth season acting as a soft reboot following a Season 3 finale that was a masterclass in playing with fan expectations. As you can expect, a lot has changed for Jason Sudekis' boundlessly positive title character in that time — he's thrown in the towel, quit coaching, and moved back to Kansas City, where he's now able to be a more present father to his teenage son Henry, who in previous seasons only appeared for brief supervised visits or over FaceTime calls.

Naturally, Ted doesn't want to throw away this connection to return to London, and the premiere puts their relationship squarely at the forefront. It sets the emotional stakes for the season, but some eagle-eyed viewers may have been too distracted by one major change the series has made to the young character. The original actor, Gus Turner, has been replaced in the role by Grant Feely, best known to viewers for playing a young Luke Skywalker in the Disney+ "Obi-Wan Kenobi" limited series. This recasting isn't just noteworthy because the character plays more of a part this time around, but because the production needed a child actor with a more specific set of skills.

A key scene in this episode sees Ted take Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), Keeley (Juno Temple) and Leslie (Jeremy Swift) to watch his son's after-school soccer match alongside his mom (Becky Ann Baker). It was already becoming clear from previous seasons that his son was catching the soccer bug, and now his growing talent has been put front and center — the key reason for dropping Gus Turner.

While Turner was asked to re-audition for the beefed-up role, it was also made clear that the role would require the actor to be considerably more experienced at soccer. But when the news of the recasting broke last year, fans on the "Ted Lasso" Reddit forum were sharply divided. One user lamented the actor's absence by saying that Turner "played the child of parents who are having a divorce perfect[ly]," while another added that it was a shame the actor wouldn't get a chance to shine with a bigger supporting role because previously he "was all over video calls and had basically nothing to work with in terms of dialogue." 

On the other hand, there were just as many comments in favor of the character being recast, with many users suggesting that Turner was not a strong enough actor to take on a more important role. Whatever the reason, Grant Feely is one of many new faces joining "Ted Lasso" for Season 4, including the members of the Lady Greyhounds, the female team that Ted is lured back to London to coach. As for Turner, he won't be alone: many if not all of the male players from the first three seasons' AFC Richmond squad aren't coming back either.