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Is Ted Lasso’s Roy Kent CGI? Internet can't get enough of weird Reddit theory

Brett Goldstein's character from Apple TV Plus show is under the spotlight for possibly being fake, if this weird theory is to be believed

Hollywood loves CGI. From the awesome blockbuster finale fight in 'Avengers: Endgame', to the absolutely horrendous removal of Henry Cavill's mustache in 'Justice League', computers have become a staple part of filmmaking. They've also become a great source for conspiracy theories, as it turns out. The latest involves Apple TV Plus' beloved comedy 'Ted Lasso', and its undeniably charming character of Roy Kent.

Season 2 of the hit comedy returned on August 14, 2021, with Apple releasing a new episode every Friday. Recently, we told you about Dani Rojas, who it turns out is a professional Mexican footballer named Cristo Fernandez. Now, we'd like to focus on Roy Kent, played by comedian Brett Goldstein. From being a professional footballer at AFC Richmond, Roy Kent has returned to the club as a coach in Episode 6 of season 2. 

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It's not just his character's story arc that's got people talking though, it's his very presence. There's an obscure Reddit theory that first emerged when Season 1 was released in 2020 that Kent was CGI. Yes, you read that right, the entire character was animated and digitally inserted in the show according to some people. Well, that theory is now back with Season 2, and it actually sounds pretty convincing. 

Is Roy Kent CGI?

The source of the theory can be traced back to Redditor cutterman1234. In September 2020, he posted on the Ted Lasso subreddit, "I just started watching the pilot, and i’m up to the scene where roy is called into teds office. Am i crazy or does he look like a complete cgi character?" That post was met with a lot of support, with one user noting, "It certainly looks like it! I thought the same thing." Another person commented, "Roy is a cgi character right? I can’t unsee it. I’m positive apple is gonna unveil something at some point that they were trying to trick us with his CGI," on another thread, which asked if Kent was based off Irish footballer Roy Keane. 

It only garnered about 35 comments and was quickly brushed under the ever-growing threads on Reddit. However, it has now re-emerged, thanks to one Twitter user. On August 29, Film Cred writer Guy Dolbey shared screenshots from that Reddit thread and said, "no more ted lasso discourse it's time for "brett goldstein is cgi" discourse." That tweet instantly blew up, with over 1,500 likes and 300 retweets at the time of publication. Adding to that, another tweet emerged with a video of a scene from the movie, with what appears to be the CGI in work. It was uploaded by Twitter user Action Movies Dad, who said, "as long as the @tedlasso people can't trace it to me, I'm sharing the truth about @brettgoldstein as Roy Kent #CGI."

Dolbey and Action Movies Dad basically brought the discussion back to life, with many users poking fun and panning the debate, while others used it as an opportunity to take the theory viral. So why are people so convinced Kent is CGI? James Vincent at The Verge has some ideas. The team reportedly believes Kent could be CGI because - he has perfect facial hair, his head appears quite big compared to his body, and Apple's use of soft lighting to make skin look oddly smooth. Also listed as a reason was "The contextual triggers of him being a footballer make one think of FIFA." 

'British people aren't real'

Whether or not those factors are real, the internet can't seem to get enough of the theory. "iphones haven’t had a major upgrade in years because all apple money has gone into roy kent cgi," one person joked. Another said, "Yes… @brettgoldstein is so good looking the internet thinks he’s CGI…" One user commented, "brett goldstein should get the emmy just for tricking multiple people into thinking roy kent is cgi."

One user replied to Dolbey's tweet, "it’s because british people aren’t real." One excited person tweeted, "I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS SINCE DAY ONE AND CONVINCED ALL MY FRIENDS OF IT. ROY KENT IS CGI. he is fully a FIFA character." Another person tweeted, "I honestly had to go and google "CGI Roy Kent" and now I have no idea what to believe any more."

As if the tweets weren't enough, Goldstein himself weighed in on the theory. On September 1, Goldstein replied with an obscure robot emoji to a tweet on the theory. He then sent social media into a tizzy, with an Instagram story addressing the very fact. Using Apple's memoji to hide his face, he said, "I am a completely real, normal, human man. Who just happens to live in a VFX house and does normal human basic things like rendering, buffering, and transferring data." 

Brendan Hunt, the co-creator of the show has also weighed in and said, "I can neither confirm nor deny that if you entered data into an algorithm for 'building the perfect actor' it would produce Brett Goldstein," to CNET. Well, those comments certainly don't help address the theory, but we can probably chalk this one up to overzealous fans. Nonetheless, there's a lot of valid points here, and it would explain how "he's here, he's there, he's every f**king where."  What do you think?