Grant Feely Replaces Gus Turner as Henry Lasso in Ted Lasso Season 4

Q: Why was the original Henry Lasso replaced, and what new athletic demands forced this shocking Season 4 recast?

Gus Turner was replaced because Season 4 significantly expands Henry Lasso’s role and makes him an on-screen soccer player, requiring an older actor with stronger athletic ability. Multiple reports around the March 2025 recasting said the new storyline called for Henry, now older after the show’s time jump, to be more active in the plot and on the pitch. Grant Feely was cast because the part now involves visible soccer performance rather than mostly FaceTime scenes, as in earlier seasons. Feely himself has said he had to “practice a lot of soccer” for the role, and in a later interview explained that he even enlisted his brothers to train him so he could handle the football scenes. That new athletic demand is the key reason behind the recast: Henry is no longer just Ted’s distant son in Kansas City, but a more prominent character whose development includes playing soccer on screen. Reports also noted that Turner was invited to re-audition, but Apple and Warner Bros. did not publicly comment in detail on the casting change. The “shocking” part for viewers is simply that Henry’s face is different after three seasons, not that there was any scandal behind it. By all available accounts, the recasting was a practical creative decision tied to Season 4’s older, more athletic version of Henry.

Q: How did matching sneakers help a young Star Wars actor secure a heavily expanded role in Ted Lasso?

Grant Feely’s matching sneakers with Jason Sudeikis helped him instantly bond with the show’s star during a chemistry read, and that connection appears to have helped him land the recast role of Henry Lasso just as the part was being significantly expanded. Feely, best known to many viewers as young Luke Skywalker in Disney+’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” said he and Sudeikis realized they were wearing the exact same Nike Blue Vomero shoes when they met. He described the coincidence as something that “broke the ice,” easing nerves during a key audition session with Sudeikis and co-creator Brendan Hunt. That chemistry mattered because “Ted Lasso” was not simply replacing Gus Turner with another child actor. Season 4 gives Henry a much larger role, with the character now older, more central to Ted’s life in Kansas City and London, and more involved in soccer. Reports said the recast was driven by the need for an actor who could handle the expanded storyline and the athletic demands. Feely fit that brief. He said he trained extensively in soccer for the role, even paying his brothers part of his first-episode earnings to coach him. Sudeikis later praised Feely’s poise, while Hunt highlighted his subtle on-camera acting. So the matching shoes did not secure the part by themselves, but they helped create an immediate rapport with Sudeikis during a crucial chemistry read, at a moment when Feely also had the right age, presence and soccer ability for Henry’s larger season 4 role.

3 articles · Updated · tvline.com · Aug 11

Grant Feely appears as Henry Lasso in the "Ted Lasso" Season 4 premiere "Home," replacing Gus Turner after the first three seasons.
Kansas City becomes central to Ted's family life in the new episode, making the recast immediately visible as Henry plays a bigger on-screen role.
March 2025 brought the first disclosure of the casting change shortly after Apple TV renewed the series, but the premiere marks viewers' first full look at Feely in the part.
2023 horror hit "Five Nights at Freddy's" and Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" are Feely's best-known credits; he played a ghost child in the former and young Luke Skywalker in the latter.