Apple TV+(LOS ANGELES) — Former Saturday Night Live star Jason Sudeikis returns to the small screen today with the new Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso, based on some comedy videos Sudekis did a couple of years ago to promote soccer on NBC.

Sudeikis plays the titular character, an unflaggingly optimistic American football coach who goes to England to take charge of a pro soccer team, and Sudeikis tells ABC Audio that he really enjoyed playing someone nice for a change.

“Look, I’m not Daniel Day Lewis. I’m not Meryl Streep. Surprise, surprise. I hate to ruin the illusion there,” he jokes. “I’m not like a method actor, but if you pretend to be horrible all day, you’re gonna be horrible for at least a half hour or hour when you get done with work, because you’re just viewing the world through that lens.”

The 44-year-old actor has created many different characters over the years, and he told ABC why he wanted to turn this one into a TV show.

“It’s a really fun way to view the world. It’s a fun sort of, you know, a prism to view the world,” he explains. “And I think that’s part of the reason why it was the desire to do that, because, you know, often if you play like different characters, sometimes you only want to play them for four minutes. I think that’s why, because of his optimism.”

Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence worked with Sudeikis on the show, and said his goal was to come up with something that would lift spirits in an otherwise difficult time.

“I want the show to have a ton of heart and be really optimistic and hopeful in a time that is not necessarily like that out there,” he tells ABC.