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Nick Mohammed should win an Emmy
There’s been a lot of anger at the Emmy’s this year for the lack of win for POC actors. Rightly so. It’s hard for actors to be given roles that are written with nuance, that really let them shine as skilled artisans. And even when they are given those roles, their incredible work is rarely recognized.
Nick Mohammed should win an Emmy.
I’ve watched interviews with the cast and crew of Ted Lasso and what really stood out to me is how much the writers really love Nick. You can tell by the way they hang on to his every word that they think he is so funny and is so brilliant. And their admiration of him is reflected in the trust they put in him to play such a controversial role. They have written a script where Nick’s acting is an absolute highlight of the season.
Nick Mohammed should win an Emmy.
The way Nick has been able to carry us all on this journey is beyond stunning. I have never seen an actor who so bravely took on the position of transitioning from one of the show’s Most beloved characters to the undeniable villain of the season. This journey is so hard to watch because dear god is it convincing. We feel Nate’s pain, his hubris, his fear, his malice.
Nick Mohammed should win an Emmy.
Do you realize how hard it must have been, to be an actor of color and then asked to play a villain? To become a character hated by the fandom and be given little empathy by racist fans? I am in awe of Nick’s bravery and I am extremely thankful for it. I am thankful to see a thoughtful depiction of the kind of self-hatred that drives people to harm others. I am thankful to seeing this story because even though right now it’s uncomfortable as shit, I know it will end in a way that teaches me something I didn’t even know I needed to learn.
Nick Mohammed should win an Emmy.
me watching and researching Ted Lasso knowing every detail of the show is thought out and meaningful
I genuinely think the funniest line read Ted Lasso is the way Dani says, "Whoo! Roast me, amigo" even after seeing his teammates getting absolutely sniped
La’Darius Marshall and Nate Shelley
So let me preface and say I don’t want to conflate or speculate on someone’s real life (La’Darius from Cheer) but since Cheer exists as a piece of media- something edited and directed into a story- I do want to point to an incredibly similar “character arc” that exists in both the narrative of Cheer and Ted Lasso.
So in season 2 in Cheer, the conflict between La’Darius and his former coach Monica becomes tense and personal. While in season one, the two were depicted as becoming incredibly close, like family, in season two Monica leaves the team for a semester. La’Darius end up fighting terribly with the interim coach and eventually quits the team. He and Monica have a falling out which comes to a head as La’Darius starts to publicly releases damning information on Monica on social media. For Monica, this betrayal completely blindsighted her. Sound familiar?
At one point La’Darius says, “I always looked at her as my mom. I did. Like she was like...she was something very special to me. I let a lot of things go. I let a lot of things pass over, because I really wanted her to be the woman that I’ve always wanted in my life. And just this past year, I just felt like she wasn’t there.”
For anyone who still feels confused about Nate’s arc, watching Cheer may be a good way to really learn from someone, in their own words, the particular pains they experienced when the parental figure they thought they had was not there for them the way they needed. There are some obvious differences (there really needs to be an essay about how gay Black men are fetishized in the cheer community and how Cheer depicts the commodification of them) but there are certain intersections of race and class that definitely are subtexts for both narratives.
There is also just a lot that can be learned through the vulnerability La’Darius and Monica share when speaking about their real lives.
I love Nate Shelley with my whole heart send tweet