EMMA MCINTYRE

Jodi Balfour is gearing up for a busy year: the actress plays Jack Danvers in season 3 of Ted Lasso, in addition to appearing as President Ellen Wilson in AppleTV+’s For All Mankind.

The star has been watching Ted Lasso just like everybody else, and when the role came her way, she knew it was meant to be. Though the audition had very little information, Balfour “gave it my best shot given the circumstances.”

“Soon after that, we began talking about it with Jason Sudeikis [who plays Ted and is an executive producer on the series], who said they were still developing the character in the writer’s room. The role was really a work in progress,” the 36-year-old exclusively tells GRAZIA USA. “I was in London with the rest of the gang for three months while this was happening, and it was such a joy. It felt like a wonderful way to get me feet wet in the comedic landscape because it’s not a hardcore sitcom or anything. There’s a lot of depth and drama within the comedic context of the show. It was a really natural, organic first step, which I’m very grateful for.”

Though Balfour joined the Emmy-nominated series later in the game, she was welcomed with open arms. “Everybody is so lovely. One Friday evening after we wrapped in Richmond, we played lawn games and had a few beers at the local pub. They all want to keep hanging out. It’s such a warm and cozy environment,” she shares.

In season 3, Keeley (Juno Temple) focuses on her new PR firm after splitting from Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein). While some may have thought Keeley’s love life would take a backseat, her world changes when she meets Jack, a venture capitalist who invests in her company. Their meet-cute transforms into a full-blown romance later on.

Temple and Balfour had never met, but the latter was “such a fan of hers for years.”

JUSTIN CHUNG

“She’s so wonderful to play with and so warm and welcoming. It was so much fun to act alongside her. It exceeded my expectations,” she gushes. “I just posted about one of the recent episodes, where had some difficult scenes to film. Still, it was so much fun to play these two people who are clearly falling in love with one another but are at odds with one another. Working with Juno was a dream.”

For the past two seasons, fans have fallen in love with Keeley and Roy’s relationship, and Balfour admits she too is on board with their romance! “I was fully expecting people to say, ‘Nobody wants Jack to come in here and get in the way of what everybody wants, which is for Roy and Keeley to get back together.’ I’ve been really surprised about how much people have embraced them. I expect that to not be the case anymore, though,” she quips. “When I saw Brett recently, he said, ‘Have you stopped having sleepless nights? People love you.’ He’s obviously Brett and not Roy, but coming from him, it felt very full circle.”

In order to prep for the role, the South Africa native dove into the venture capitalism world. “I listened — or I should say I struggled to understand — to some VC centric podcasts, listening to people in the startup world and the finance world talk about venture capital. Jason wanted me to use my own accent. The backstory created was that Jack had to be from South Africa. Where I come from, soccer is definitely a popular sport, but I don’t think Jack would have grown up being immersed in that world at all.”

The subject matter may have been tough to work on, but Balfour admits she loved Jack’s wardrobe. “I was obsessed with it! That was half of my joy for sure,” she says, adding that working with Sudeikis was “wonderful.”

“He is very present on set because he wears so many hats. He has a hand in honestly everything,” she notes. “He was there for pretty much every scene I shot and worked in collaboration with the director to find the shape of the scene. Thank goodness for Jason in certain moments because I don’t come from a big comedy background, and some of the writing on the show requires you to land the rhythm of the line to make the joke work. Jason would help me find that and then I’d fully grasp how to play with the joke in the line.”

Over the years, Balfour has dabbled into the comedy world, though she was “afraid I wouldn’t be able to do it well.”

EMMA MCINTYRE

However, “it was such fun,” she recalls. “I loved it. I love drama, but I had so much doing this. The hope is always to be able to do a bit of everything. Variety keeps us feeling really inspired and creative, so I am all about that.”

Additionally, Balfour, who is engaged to Abbi Jacobson, is also thrilled for fans to watch the LGBTQ+ community be show on the small screen. “It’s wonderful to be representing storyline that reflect the population and the world,” she says. “It’s so fun. I’m still a new member of the community, and I’m still figuring out exactly how I identity. For now, I say, ‘I’m someone who is in love with my fiancé.'”

Balfour knows she’s lucky to also be on the hit show For All Mankind, in which her character — an astronaut turned president — comes out to the nation during a press conference. “It’s been such an incredible journey. I’ve gotten to play a character over almost four decades of her life, which as an actor is such a thrill,” she says. “It was an incredible acting challenge. When I think about where the character started, she was this quiet astronaut candidate who is now the President of the United States. I can’t imagine a greater gift. It’s been really awesome.”

“It was a bit of a challenge to see Ellen evolve from season 2 to season 3. This woman now has to give speeches and work in the Oval Office. That was a lot of work for me — physically — and a lot of vocal work. It was really fun but certainly a leap from how I naturally carry myself and how I naturally speak, which was cool. It was fun to go back to my theater roots and play a bada** woman. It was really meaningful,” she says.

From Ted Lasso to The Crown, Balfour has been on all these amazing shows and gotten accolades along the way — something she doesn’t take for granted. “It’s a dream come true. I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, mostly on the stage as a dancer and then an actor. Los Angeles seemed so far away when I was a kid. It was something I used to think and dream about, so it’s not lost on me. I need to do a better job of reminding myself that it’s meaningful to be here.”

NASTSASSIA BRUCKIN

“I can’t imagine doing anything else now. Trust me, I’ve tried,” she quips. “I love this job so much. In the last year, I’ve started writing, and I am in the early stages of putting together a film I co-wrote with my dear friend Jessy Hodges that I am going to star in and co-direct with her. I’m starting to take everything I’ve learned and have it under my belt as an actress to apply when I am in the driver’s seat. I’m excited about what the future holds in terms of expanding my career beyond acting.”

Balfour says she loves “making things” and “connecting with people,” leading her to become a “natural producer.”

“I’m excited to see how these things lend themselves to the more literal act of directing and producing,” she says. “I want to continue to do it all.”

Season 3 of Ted Lasso is now streaming on AppleTV+.