10 Things to Know About 'Ted Lasso' Actress Juno Temple
Though she isn't quite a household name yet, Juno Temple has built quite the résumé, popping up in everything from the cult queer comedy movie Kaboom to Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger's short-lived record industry drama series Vinyl. She's now showing her lighter side in Ted Lasso, Apple TV+'s acclaimed comedy series about an American college football coach (Jason Sudeikis) who's hired to manage a struggling English soccer team. With season two premiering today (July 23), here's a handy guide to Temple's life and career to date.
1. She's named after a part of the Grand Canyon her parents visited when her mother was pregnant.
Juno Temple is actually a 6,896-elevation summit located in the eastern Grand Canyon. As you'll see here, it's a really stunning entity to be named after.
2. Her dad is cult director Julien Temple.
He's probably best known for helming 1980's The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, a mockumentary about punk icons the Sex Pistols, and 1986's Absolute Beginners, a musical movie starring David Bowie. He's also directed music videos by Whitney Houston, The Rolling Stones, and Culture Club.
Meanwhile, her mom Amanda Pirie produced music videos for Janet Jackson and Tom Petty.
3. Despite being in the industry, her parents were "bummed out" when she told them she wanted to be an actress.
"They were like, 'Ugh. Ohhhh. You're gonna be told that you're too short, that your t**s aren’t big enough. You're gonna constantly be told the things that are wrong with you,'" Temple told The Guardian. "As a woman in today's society, you're already getting that from all quarters. I think they were also, like, 'You can’t just step into this and be good. You will have to work and you will have to fight for it.'"
4. She won them over by getting cast as Cate Blanchett's teenage daughter in the highly acclaimed 2006 film Notes on a Scandal.
Then a year later, she landed a key role in Atonement as Lola Quincey, a 15-year-old girl who is sexually assaulted by and later marries Benedict Cumberbatch's character Paul Marshall.
5. She won the Rising Star prize at the BAFTA Film Awards in 2012.
That year, she appeared in no fewer than five movies including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises and Killer Joe, a pitch-black comedy starring Matthew McConaughey.
6. She auditioned for a role in the Harry Potter franchise.
Temple told The Star in 2014 that she doesn't remember which character she tried out for "way back when." However, various sources link her to the role of Luna Lovegood, which was eventually played by Evanna Lynch.
7. She has no time for critics who judge her for doing nude scenes.
"I definitely have been penalized for taking my clothes off," Temple told The Independent earlier this year. "And honestly, sorry for swearing, but f*** that."
When she had three films at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013 – Afternoon, Lovelace, and Magic Magic, one critic drew the crudest comparison between her roles. "I remember a reviewer being like, 'Wow, she's got her t**s out in all of them,'" Temple recalled. "I don't think that's a beneficial thing to say. If you're offended by the nudity, explain to me why. Not just like, 'She's got her boobs on screen again.' Yeah, I do. So if that’s a problem, tell me why."
Well said, quite frankly.
8. Last year, she starred in Little Birds, an idiosyncratic six-part series inspired by Anaïs Nin's short stories collection of the same name.
Temple shines as Lucy Savage, an American debutante living in 1950s Tangier who is desperate to live a more bohemian and liberated life than a woman of her class and era is supposed to. It's an interesting, quirky, and very Juno Temple kind of role.
9. Though she's racked up an impressive 58 acting credits already, Keeley in Ted Lasso is actually her first ever full-on comedy role.
"It's the first time I’ve ever returned to a character," Temple said when discussing season two with Deadline. "I did a TV show a while ago which was supposed to go for more seasons, called Vinyl, but it didn’t. So, this was new to me too, and a little daunting. But getting into the headspace of Keeley – who truly is a bundle of light – during this crazy time to be alive, where the world is hurting on so many levels and people are closing doors rather than opening their ears and hearing each other, has been special. Keeley has saved my mental health, truly."
10. She celebrated her recent Emmy nomination with a Ted Lasso co-star.
"I FaceTimed with Hannah Waddingham, who’s one of my favorite humans in the whole world," Temple told Vulture. "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be going into something like this with her. That was an immediate celebration."
As for whether she and Waddingham might walk the Emmys' red carpet together, Temple added: "We’ve talked about that already. I told her we should do this together, and she was like, 'Yeah, of course.'"
Do you have a favorite Juno Temple role to date?