For Cristo Fernandez, fútbol really is life. For three seasons, he portrayed the infectiously joyful and endlessly dedicated soccer player Dani Rojas on Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso.”
While the show makes a shift in its coming fourth season with Lasso returning to Richmond to coach a second-division women’s team, Fernandez is also headed in a new (and old) direction. The 35-year-old recently made his debut for El Paso Locomotive FC of the USL Championship, the second tier of men’s professional soccer in the United States.
Life often imitates art. In Fernandez’s case, though, it might be the opposite. Two decades ago, he played professionally as a teenager in Guadalajara, Mexico, before a knee injury derailed his career, steering him into a new one — acting. Recently, Fernandez completed a trial with the MLS club Chicago Fire FC II, laying the groundwork for a return to professional soccer.
Fernandez spoke to The New York Times shortly before his debut about rediscovering the sport through “Ted Lasso.” This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did your return to professional soccer come about?
I personally tried to get away from fútbol because it was just painful to remind myself of something that I did so many years and that I failed. But with “Ted Lasso,” I had to be open to this new journey again and it was part of my job as an actor, that since we were playing professional soccer players, I had to at least look like a professional soccer player and those three seasons and probably five, six years of being around this whole “Ted Lasso” journey, it started to bring this passion on me.
And meeting heroes that I grew up watching, like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo and Mexican idols, Jorge Campos, Luis Hernández and Andrés Guardado, it awakened in me this passion of playing fútbol again. And I guess I became a bit of a psychopath in a way that every single time someone tells me no, I just want to show you yes.
Does this feel like the beginning of a new chapter or completing unfinished business?
This is not me going in the field kicking the ball and then getting applause in the stadium, right? It’s really going and performing and being on the pitch. Just standing on a fútbol pitch, it requires so much effort. People will see just one thing. And it’s the same with acting. People see you in the premiere of whatever film and they think, “What a lucky guy.” But everyone has a story, and for me, it hasn’t been easy to get where I’ve gotten as an actor and even now as a soccer player, this has been like a three-year journey that no one knows.
Was there a point when you knew your body could do this?
My dad unfortunately passed away in December and he’s my biggest inspiration of why I’m back playing. Last year, I told him about this crazy dream of coming back, the first thing he said was, “Cristo, you have injuries. Take care of your knees. You’re going to take away all this hard work.” And I explained to him my reasons and talked to him from the heart and how much this means to me and then he was like, “OK, I believe in you. If you say you can do it, I believe in you and I want to watch you play.” And that just stayed on me and with me.
Have your teammates treated you like a celebrity or just another player?
Actually, today we had a training and one of my teammates accidentally hit me with the elbow, bad. I felt dizzy. Everything was all right. I’m good. But then they were being like, “He was acting. He was just making a drama.” I believe in opportunity and I believe preparation leads to success. But in this regard, I really am grateful with my teammates. I am lucky with this type of people and everyone has good vibes here in El Paso with the team.
Dani Rojas is a character known for his infectious energy when he plays. Do you have that same quality?
As an actor, the biggest dream would be to one day perform a role where I completely change myself and I change my accent and even I gain weight or completely transform myself. But what brought me into “Ted Lasso” was the Dani Rojas character was supposed to be an Icelandic man named Gunnar. And actually at my first table read, it said “Gunnar, played by Cristo Fernandez.” And I was like, “How am I going to play an Iceland man? This is going to be a complete failure.” But apparently, they really loved my audition and they made the role of Dani Rojas based on me. And that’s why I say Dani Rojas is a lot like me. I would be joking if I say that I completely changed myself for the role. We are the same guy.
Have you talked to Jason Sudeikis or any of your castmates about this, and what has their reaction been?
We have a WhatsApp group called “Ted Lasso Gang” where we keep in touch and as soon as the news got out, they sent a message, all of them, and they were like, “Dude this is amazing, congrats, felicidades amigo,” just giving me good vibes and congratulating me. I told them that, “This all comes from my family, ‘Ted Lasso.’” I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t because of them. And it all started with them and with the belief. “Ted Lasso” became a big lesson in my life in every single way, not only professionally, but also the aspects of mental health and belief. “Ted Lasso” gave me the feel to become a child again and dream.
Have you thought about what your celebration is going to be after your first goal?
I don’t even know how I’m going to react. I don’t know if I’ll actually plan it. I will be so emotional and I will be so happy. But maybe a Dani Rojas celebration, just so that fiction really imitates reality. Maybe running in circles. That would be funny.