He’s become one of Hollywood’s hottest properties – while winning the heart of global superstar Jennifer Lopez along the way.
British actor, writer and producer Brett Goldstein, 46, and the 57-year-old American singer and actress were the talk of the town this week after they appeared together at a glitzy party in LA.
After months of rumours, the glamorous pair are said to be dating – albeit ‘casually’ for the moment – after starring together as lovers in the raunchy romantic comedy movie Office Romance.
Yet it was not long ago that the multi-talented heart-throb had all but given up his dreams of making it into the big time.
Goldstein’s fortunes were turned around in 2020 when he landed the role of ageing footballer Roy Kent in Ted Lasso for which he received the prestigious Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a comedy series for each of the first two seasons.
The warm-hearted Apple TV series about an American football coach who comes to London to manage a Premier League club proved a massive hit with millions of viewers around the world during the turmoil and uncertainties of the Covid pandemic.
Brett Goldstein in a scene from Lone Island, a Love Island spoof created by his then girlfriend Beth Rylance, where he goes on ‘dates’ with various objects from around the house
Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez are said to ‘casually dating’ after starring together as lovers in the raunchy romantic comedy movie Office Romance
Rylance cast Goldstein in the bizarre comedy series, where he plays the character Bradley Pee from Peckham, before he catapulted to fame on Ted LassoÂ
Now the Daily Mail can reveal that at the same time, Goldstein was starring in a somewhat less high-profile, and far more bizarre, comedy series called Lone Island.
Starting during the early days of lockdown, the Love Island spoof featured Goldstein playing a character called Bradley Pee from Peckham going on a series of ‘dates’ with various inanimate objects from around the house
With no other contestants able to join him, he ends up being paired up with a houseplant and a muppet-style football.
The series of ten short video episodes, which ran between March and August 2020, ended after ‘the gang had their final night in the villa and engaged in a sex party challenge’ before Bradley Pee went on to speak about the ‘memories’ and ‘connections’ he had made during the experience.
The videos were created by Goldstein’s then girlfriend Beth Rylance, 35, who posted them on her Instagram account, which now has just 4,474 followers to whom she describes herself as an ‘actress, writer and not Mark Rylance’s daughter’.
With no other contestants able to join him, he ends up being paired up with a houseplant in videos on Rylance’s Instagram account, which now has just 4,474 followers
Goldstein as Bradley on a date with a muppet-style football on Lone Island, which was released in a series of ten short video episodes
The series ended in August 2020, just 11 days before season one of Ted Lasso premiered on Apple TV
They were filmed while the couple were quarantined together at the flat they shared in south-east London with the season finale posted on August 3 – just 11 days before the first episode of Ted Lasso was released.
The couple’s relationship became more widely known to the public when Goldstein travelled to LA to collect his first Emmy in September 2021 and said during an expletive-ridden acceptance speech: ‘Beth, I love you.’
Ahead of the ceremony Beth joked in a since-deleted message on Instagram: ‘Today is the day that my boyfriend goes to the Emmy’s as a Best Supporting Actor nominee and I am at home on my second load of laundry.’
The following day she posted a photograph of herself on social media wearing Roy Kent’s AFC Richmond shirt with his name and the number six on the back, with the caption: ‘Okay, but why isn’t anyone talking about “my” Emmy’s look???’
Rylance wearing the football jersey of Roy Kent, Goldstein’s character on Ted LassoÂ
She posted the selfie in 2021 when Goldstein, who was living with Rylance at the time, travelled to LA for the Emmy awards
The following August it was revealed that the couple had decided to go their separate ways and had unfollowed each other on their social media accounts.
A source said at the time: ‘They’re both in exciting times in their careers and really busy and they just couldn’t make it work.’
The revelation of the split came just weeks after Goldstein made a surprise appearance in a post-credit scene of Thor: Love And Thunder – announcing his arrival in Marvel films as the mythical character, Hercules.
Industry insiders reported that Marvel is developing a new blockbuster for the character, though an official release format has not been confirmed.
Goldstein was shown at the end of the movie wearing a gladiator-style outfit that showed off his rippling muscles.
He has continued to work hard on his impressive physique which he showcased on the cover of the September issue of Men’s Health magazine.
Goldstein – who has joked he became ‘a 20-year overnight success’ after landing the role of Roy Kent – told the magazine how his previous struggles to make it in the showbiz industry had left him battling depression.
He said: ‘I’d get tiny acting jobs, I did stand-up comedy and I would edit other people’s scripts.
‘But I wasn’t getting any bigger. No one saw any of the stuff I was making.’
Goldstein opened up about the wave of rejections he faced in the 2010s, as he packed up his life in London on three separate occasions to move to Hollywood for pilot season – only to return unsuccessful each time.
He confessed that he thought that maybe he had ‘missed my window’ and his chances of finding success as an actor were fading.
He told how he began to see a therapist who encouraged him to make ‘a gratitude journal’ and write down ten things he was grateful for every day.
Goldstein said that while initially he struggled with his list, he learned to train his brain to look for the positive aspects in life, and soon enough, was able to write down 100 positive moments every day.
He said his pursuit of fame soon became trivial, and instead he focused on maintaining a positive outlook.
While Goldstein admitted he still has ‘dark days’, he added: ‘It really has changed me.’
Just two weeks later, Goldstein received the phone call that would change his life – and it turned out to be one of his apparently fruitless trips to LA that came to the rescue.
In 2017, he flew to Hollywood to meet producer Bill Lawrence to film a pilot for a comedy show that was never taken up.
Goldstein on the cover of Men’s Health magazine
He showed off his impressive physique on the cover of the September issue of the magazine in the UK
The pair kept in touch and in 2019, Lawrence called saying he thought he would be ‘perfect’ as a writer for his new series – Ted Lasso.
After a lengthy FaceTime call with Jason Sudeikis, who plays Ted in the show, he was hired and flew to LA days later.
While the script was being developed, Goldstein began closely identifying with the ‘sadness, depression and rage’ of Kent, an ageing footballer who eventually retires.
At the end of the writing room sessions, he filmed a secret five-scene audition tape which he emailed to the production team – and it proved to be such a hit that he was hired for the role.
The star went on to describe how he had family friends who were professional footballers who he grew up around and was aware of the impact on their lives as they reached the end of their careers.
He said in 2021: ‘I was around when they retired, and I know how difficult that transition is. How football is your life and then suddenly it isn’t – and you have no training for the real world or normal life.
‘There’s a real sort of tragedy to that. No one wants to stop playing football – it’s just that your body can’t. That’s tragic.
‘I understood the sadness of that. I understood his depression. And, most of all, I fully understood the rage. It was all the aspects of him. I thought, “I am Roy Kent”.’
He added: ‘In terms of my career, I was definitely at a point where it felt like the train had passed me by.
‘I had been working consistently but never to much notice from the industry. I loved the work but I was beginning to think it was all over. Then Ted Lasso happened. It really feels like magic.’
Lopez and Goldstein, who embark on a secret workplace relationship in Office Romance, were quickly linked together off-screen but previously denied a relationship
Lopez and Goldstein in a still from Office Romance; their on-screen chemistry sparked rumours they were dating in real lifeÂ
Lopez, who split from husband Ben Affleck last year, raved that Goldstein was ‘the best kisser’ she had ever worked with
Goldstein, a Tottenham fan, was born in Sutton, south London, and after school he went on to graduate from Warwick University with a degree in film studies.
He briefly relocated to Marbella, Spain, to work at a strip club which his father bought during a ‘midlife crisis’.
Goldstein moved to New York to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts until 2003.
He had a stand up show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and began acting in short films before making his TV debut in two episodes of The Bill in 2009.
Goldstein landed a role in Ricky Gervais’s comedy Derek, appeared in a Doctor Who episode and launched his own comedy podcast.
But things changed after he hit the big time. He co-created the six-part science fiction series Soulmates, then signed a multi-year contract with Warner Bros.
Goldstein co-created the American comedy drama series Shrinking which stars Harrison Ford before the release of Office Romance which he co-wrote and produced as well as starred in alongside Lopez.
The pair, who embark on a secret workplace relationship in the film, were quickly linked together off-screen but previously denied a relationship.
In June, Lopez said: ‘There’s never a time when I’m seen with somebody or working with somebody where they don’t try to put me with the person.’
The four times married mother-of-two, who split from latest husband Ben Affleck last year, had however previously raved that Goldstein was ‘the best kisser’ she had ever worked with.
