Brett Goldstein

Brett Goldstein (born 17 July 1980) is an English actor, comedian, writer, producer, and podcaster.

Best known for portraying the gruff football coach Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso (2020–2023), Goldstein earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, along with a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He has also gained recognition for co-creating and contributing to the Apple TV+ series Shrinking (2023–present), where he plays a supporting role, and for voicing Hercules in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).

Brett Goldstein was born on 17 July 1980 in Sutton, a suburb of London, England, to a British Jewish family. He grew up in Sutton alongside his sister, Tara Goldstein Carr, who later co-founded the comedy sketch group School of Comedy. His family background included a strong connection to Judaism; Goldstein celebrated his bar mitzvah at The Wimbledon Synagogue in southwest London.

During his childhood, Goldstein's father, a passionate Tottenham Hotspur supporter, heavily influenced his early exposure to football, often prioritizing matches over family events and encouraging him to pursue the sport professionally. He attended Sevenoaks School, one of England's oldest independent schools, for his secondary education.

Goldstein attended the University of Warwick, where he earned a degree in film studies. During his time there, he initially hoped to gain practical experience in filmmaking but instead engaged deeply with theoretical aspects of the discipline, which later informed his approach to narrative and character development in writing.