Jeremy Swift: What Can Ted Lasso and Pumpkin Seeds Teach Us About Life?
3 mins read
Ted Lasso changed my life in a positive way that I had not anticipated. Given the time of its release, during a global pandemic, it gave many isolated people hope during an almost existential period of uncertainty. The groundbreaking writing and talented cast went viral not just for the goals but also for reflecting the connections that people had lost or that seemed irretrievable. I am all about the positive and was proud to have involvement in what many people see as a comedy that makes them feel better. Sometimes the magic of TV and film can actually do this. I have been fortunate to work on remarkable projects that have that feel-good vibe, the most recent of which is the children’s film GROW. It strongly reflects similar themes of connection, community, and found family. The latter resonated for me as a father of two adopted children, now adults.
Halloween films often deliver fright and the spectacular, but this time the story asks us to look deeper at what haunts us and leads us out of the darkness.
Central to GROW is Charlie (the vivacious Priya-Rose Brookwell in her first screen role), trying to avoid facing the heartbreak of being left behind by her Mother. She is reluctantly taken in by her aunt, played by the excellent Golda Rosheuval, a woman who resists connection almost as fiercely as Charlie craves it. They’re afraid not of ghosts but of being unwanted. This theme reflects our cultural moment. Turning on the news or scrolling through social media can feel like a horror movie. Loneliness has become a first-world epidemic, disconnection haunting us more than any ghost could.
The warm comedy in GROW shows us that a simple, fragile pumpkin seed, given light and water, can grow into something fruitful. And of course, the metaphor is true of us. When we risk connection and allow ourselves to both listen and be seen, we discover relationships that grow stronger than our fears.
Ted Lasso captures hearts because it shows how broken, occasionally bitter people can find joy in belonging with others. Never just about football and competition, it’s about showing up with our wounds and finding out that there are others with the same humanity who will meet us there. GROW echoes that. On the surface, it looks like a festive (though unconventional) Halloween story with pumpkins and magic. Underneath it’s about finding a friend and here in a children’s movie how important it is to have that in your life. The touching friendship that develops and is endangered between Charlie and Oliver (the fabulous Dominic McLaughlin, who plays my son) is central to the heart of the film.
We all, in some way, crave that flickering light of a pumpkin in our darkest spaces. So this Halloween, when pumpkins appear on doorsteps and costumes fill the streets, I hope that GROW encourages audiences to see beyond the scares.
Perhaps the question this fall is not ‘What frightens us most’ but ‘What connects us most’? And if a Halloween movie can answer that, then maybe the biggest treat is not in the candy bag but in the courage to open up to others.
Jeremy Swift is an award-winning actor known for his work in Ted Lasso, The Crown, Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, and Gosford Park. He features in the new film GROW.
