Trent Crimm from the Independent was unavailable to chat with Juno Temple about her first Emmy nomination for Ted Lasso, so I, a humble Vulture dot com writer, filled in instead. Temple’s portrayal of the wonderfully cheeky social-media maven, Page 3 model, and “independent woman” Keeley Jones was a consistent ray of sunshine throughout the first season and was further brightened by the people she chose to surround herself with by the finale: Keeley and her new BFF, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), are textbook definitions of shine theory, bringing out the best of each other, and she also ditched her WAG identity to form a more meaningful relationship with an aging footballer (Brett Goldstein). It should also be noted that she did all this while effortlessly rocking a high ponytail. An hour after Temple learned of her nomination, here’s how our conversation unfolded over the phone.
Oh my God!
[Screams.]
Congratulations!
I’m definitely still processing all this. This is a surreal start to the day. I’m not even sure on the top of my head I could tell you what day it is. What day is it?
Tuesday … I think …
What a great Tuesday!
I’d love nothing more than to get a full recap of how you’ve celebrated your nomination so far.
I FaceTimed with Hannah Waddingham, who’s one of my favorite humans in the whole world. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be going into something like this with her. That was an immediate celebration. I’ve been working with the same team since I was 17 years old, so I talked with all of them. I had no idea you could, like, FaceTime multiple people at one time. I’m so bad with technology. They called me all together and told me. My best friend is staying at my home right now, and she made me the most delicious oat-milk latte you’ve ever tasted in your life. And she’s now making me peanut butter and jelly on toast.
That’s a perfect Emmy-nomination celebration.
That just sounds so nice to say out loud: Emmy nomination.
I think 80 percent of the Supporting Comedy nominations are for Ted Lasso.
Did you read that we got 20 nominations? I’m so proud of this team — so, so much. They’re the most extraordinary team of humans.
I’m now kind of expecting you and Hannah to walk the red carpet together.
We’ve talked about that already [laughs]. I told her we should do this together, and she was like, “Yeah, of course.” The season-two premiere is later this week, and it’s going to be even more exciting; being able to squeeze everybody in person and say, “Goddamn, I’m grateful for you.” This show has been a blessing for all of us. It’s been our sanity in this fucking crazy year.
Keeley and Rebecca are my favorite television non-couple couple. I can’t believe this is still rare enough that it has to be said, but it’s just lovely to see two fabulous and determined women enjoying a close friendship onscreen.
And it’s not competitive; it’s not bitchy. It’s nothing except adoration and genuine desire to help each other shine. It’s what female best-friendship should be. It’s all about nurture and passion and supporting girlfriends in whatever situations they’re going through. Happy, sad, ugly, beautiful — all of it. Helping them see their greatness when they can’t see it themselves. Also, reminding them of things that they’ve maybe forgotten about themselves, or even showing them things that they’ve never noticed about themselves. It’s one of the great friendships.
What do they bring out within each other?
Rebecca is entirely the reason that Keeley is pursuing this new career. She reminded Keeley that she has this extraordinary brain and that she can use it in a business way. She doesn’t just have tits and an ass or is “famous for being almost famous.” Rebecca really encourages her to earn that and see that future for herself, because her eyes haven’t been open to that before. I think Keeley reminds Rebecca that she’s a beautiful woman inside and out, and she’s not just all about business. She can embrace her womanhood and not just be a boss who’s fucking good at her job. That’s just touching the surface stuff, really. I think they’ll be best friends for the rest of their lives.
Are you aware of the sheer amount of Keeley and Roy fan-cams on social media?
I’m sadly not great with social media, but I am aware of them because Brett Goldstein is an angel and sends me all of the good ones [laughs]. There’s a lot of love for those two, right? I love Brett so deeply, too. We’ve got a good trust thing going on. If you share that, you can create relationships that are very real because you can be very vulnerable.
I love a good karaoke scene and was bummed that we didn’t get to see you flex some singing alongside Coach Beard’s “Bad Romance.”
Okay, let me tell you something …
Did your karaoke scene get cut?
Karaoke with that cast is so intimidating. I did do one song with Brendan Hunt that didn’t make the cut. He might be the king of karaoke, with Hannah being the queen. We did that song “Kids,” by Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue. I didn’t fail too hard, so thank God for that. But all of us went out one night and all did karaoke, and it was almost like being in a musical-theater show. I was like, This is insane. They can all do karaoke so well! Everyone should be happy that they didn’t see Keeley give it a go. [Laughs.] It would’ve been like the scene in My Best Friend’s Wedding when Cameron Diaz sings.
What’s the signature Juno Temple karaoke song?
“Like a Prayer,” by Madonna. It’s a good one because if you panic and fall to your knees, you can just work that into the song. It just looks like you’re praying. That’s my advice to you.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that Keeley has the most iconic high ponytail on television.
Can I tell you something? My hair-and-makeup person is brilliant, but most of the ponytails are fake. I’m wearing one clip-on right now that may have been Keeley’s. [Laughs.] It’s not all me. I wish. I love a high pony. Love it.
