It feels like the Ginsburg Chan brothers were always destined for stardom, from the moment their parents named them Orion and North. Still, the family was shocked when the boys landed their big acting breaks at ages four and ten, playing brothers in Season 4 of the cultural phenomenon Ted Lasso.
When a local modeling agency headhunted Orion (now age six) in 2023, Mrs. Chan thought her sons could try acting and perhaps do the occasional commercial. Two years and an agency move later, Apple TV’s Emmy-winning comedy came calling.
“We got an email for Orion saying, ‘You’re invited to audition,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Ted Lasso!’ I didn’t even know they were coming back. So it was super exciting, because my husband and I were already fans of the show,” Chan told Decider over Zoom on the heels of Season 4’s finale.
After several auditions and meeting with the casting director, Orion landed the role of Archie, the youngest son of Lizzie Davis (Faye Marsay), a single mom who becomes the Lady Greyhounds’ center back and captain. At the time, they didn’t know Archie had a sibling. Then shortly after production started, North (now age ten) auditioned to play Archie’s older brother Sean, and the stars aligned again. “We didn’t expect it to happen; we just thought it was great that he had the opportunity to audition,” Chan recalled. “Then next thing we know, they’re both on Ted Lasso. I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.'”
On a Tuesday in October, after a “chill day” at school for Orion and mock exams and football with friends for North, the sweet, smiley brothers video chatted with Decider from their London home to share their Ted Lasso experience and growing passion for acting.
“I think it was really cool doing my first job with my brother. It was an amazing experience spending so much time with him throughout the day. And everyone there was lovely,” North explained in the brothers’ first interview, before paying Orion the most precious compliment. “It was really emotional when I found out that he was in the trailer, and I’m really proud of him. Because only the best actors get in the trailer. And you’re one of them, aren’t you?”
Orion made his Ted Lasso debut in Season 4, Episode 3, “Richmond’s Got Talent,” when Lizzie spontaneously tried out for the team and couldn’t get childcare. Archie accompanied her to the pitch and hung out on the touchline, where he asked Ted (Jason Sudeikis) for help opening a bag of crisps.
“It was so fun being with him,” Orion said about Sudeikis, who gave the young actor helpful techniques and tips, but also showed him that even the most experienced actors make mistakes while filming. “When Ted opened the packet of crisps, they just kept going everywhere,” Orion recalled. “The team had to pick them up, and we did it over and over again, because the bag just kept breaking.” After confirming he ate “a lot” of crisps that day, Orion playfully held up a bag for the camera, revealing that he calls the snacks “Ted Tax” now, as a nod to the few crisps Lasso ate as payment for opening the bags.
The brothers first shared the screen in Season 4, Episode 7, “Yes & Baby,” which kicked off with a cold open that welcomed viewers into Lizzie’s chaotic kitchen, where Archie ate breakfast as Sean searched for his shoes. “It was their first scene together, and it was really special to see them together on set for the first time,” Chan reflected, adding that she helped dress the set with photos of the boys to give the home a more personal touch. “I think it was really cool that my voice was in the opening scene. I loved it,” North recalled when asked about his Ted Lasso debut. “My favorite part was eating all the cereal,” Orion added.
Since he was only four during filming and couldn’t read confidently yet, Orion memorized his lines by listening to them. Though North could read his scripts, he also found memorization “really easy” when he used the listening approach. “My main technique, and I think my brother’s, is I read them out once off the script and then I listen to them while I’m playing with my toys or doing something else,” the young multi-tasker explained.
Recalling their first episode together, the brothers giggled over a big swearing scene, in which Lizzie screams the s-word after receiving a disappointing text from the boys’ dad. “I really liked watching her act, as she’s more experienced,” North said of his TV mom. “Watching her perform was a big privilege for me, and she’s a great footballer.” Orion, who had “so much fun” with Marsay, even shouted out her impressive keepy-uppies.
After childcare fell through again, Lizzie took Archie to the club for the day, where he uttered one of the season’s best lines (“You look like a husky”), and listened to Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) read Charlotte’s Web. Working with Hunt, coloring on set, and choosing his own cool dinosaur-themed wardrobe were fun perks of the job, but the emotional women’s locker room scene where Archie read the famous “Believe And Win” sign aloud was one of Orion’s favorite memories.
“I read a word for the first time, and then Faye said, ‘You know what…'” Orion recalled, teasing the f-bomb with a big smile. “It was super fun, because then my fake mom picked me up, and I went around to all the football players and got high fives.” The standout scene was extra special for Chan, who revealed, “What they were planning on shooting that day was very different from what it became. Jason has an organic way of working, and it was just so beautiful to see how it went from one thing to [another].”
The brothers also spent quality time together in Season 4’s finale, chasing each other around the locker room and walking hand-in-hand with Marsay and the team out onto the pitch. “I loved that a lot. It felt like one of the most special scenes, didn’t it?” North asked. “I think the series is amazing because it was designed so that people remember women’s football is equal to men’s and both are amazing.”
Though the boys are big football fans and even play the sport at school, they were too young to watch Ted Lasso before joining the show. Orion is more of a Minions & Monsters guy, and North is still flying high from seeing Spider-Man: Brand New Day in cinemas, but they did sit down to watch themselves on television — once they remembered they were in the show, that is…
“When I did Ted Lasso, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be on TV. I’ll remember that!’ But then I actually forgot, and when I saw myself on TV, I was like, ‘What? When was this?!'” Orion said with a chuckle. “We’re normally used to seeing ourselves in mirrors, so seeing us on TV speaking and stuff was really weird,” North reflected. “But it’s amazing at the same time, seeing how natural our acting is and how much it’s improved from when we started.”
Looking back on their Ted Lasso experience, Chan recalled the crew and cast — including special Season 4 guests Cristo Fernández and his sister Paloma Cinco — warmly welcoming her sons to the set. “They all really took care of them and took them under the wing,” Chan said. “Faye was great from the beginning. She would play with them in between takes, and she really made sure that she bonded with Orion in particular.”
As of writing, the series hasn’t officially been renewed for Season 5, but the brothers are eager to reprise their roles. As a fan of the show, Chan would love to see Archie and Sean share a scene with Ted Lasso’s other young stars, Phoebe (Elodie Blomfield) and Henry (Grant Feeley), along with any of the OG cast members they didn’t cross paths with in Season 4 — mainly the “goddess” Hannah Waddingham.
In the meantime, Orion’s 2026 short film, The Story Teller, premiered and won Best UK Short Film at the London Independent Film Festival. North’s 2026 BAFTA-qualifying short film, August 31st, 1997, premiered at the Bolton Film Festival. The two also had the unique experience of playing the same character at different ages in their upcoming feature film, Coming of Age, directed by Josh Appignanesi.
The brothers may be young, but Orion fell in love with acting as soon as he learned it was an option, and he’s already declared he’s “going to act until [he’s] very old.” For North, stepping into a character’s shoes is especially fascinating. “I think it’s amazing that you can travel to different worlds, different characters, different emotions. I just love doing that,” he explained.
Before the boys signed off to play video games, they shared dreams of being booked and busy, confidently vowing they’d be back on Zoom soon to chat about another new project. As two true believers, it feels like Orion and North weren’t simply destined for stardom; they were destined to shine in Ted Lasso.
Ted Lasso Season 4 is now streaming on Apple TV.