After roles in Catastrophe and I May Destroy you, Sarah Niles is relishing her Emmy nomination for Ted Lasso. She talks about giggling on set and why British shows need to be braver
in Thornton Heath, south London, the youngest of three children, to Barbadian parents who came over in the late 1950s. Her father was an electrician, her mother a care nurse. Young Sarah would accompany her mum on weekly shopping trips to Brixton market. One of her earliest memories is seeing the aftermath of the 1981 riots.
In recent years, their relationship has entered a new phase. “My dad’s got Alzheimer’s now,” she says. “It’s such a strange and cruel disease. It makes me quite melancholy, but my parents always taught me to find beauty in the cracks of a thing. So what it has allowed me to do is have some beautiful moments being in the present with him and enjoying those times together while we can. You’ve got to bask in the sun of life.
Niles counts herself fortunate to have worked with two of our finest female screenwriters in Sharon Horgan and Michaela Coel. She adored her time on. “It was one of my favourite times ever on set,” she says. “I come from a theatre background and this had similar energy. It felt like we were a company – sensitive, supportive, all taking care of each other. It was wonderful, but sad as well. I’m humbled that Michaela Coel was brave enough to put that piece out there.