Brett Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez are said to be dating “casually” after appearing together at a party in Los Angeles, following their roles as lovers in the romantic comedy Office Romance.
The 46-year-old British actor, writer and producer and the 57-year-old American singer and actress have been the subject of speculation since working together on the film, in which they play colleagues who begin a secret relationship.
Their reported romance comes as Goldstein continues to enjoy a rapid rise in Hollywood, having gone from struggling comedian and jobbing actor to an Emmy-winning star and one of the industry’s most sought-after talents.
Before his breakthrough in Ted Lasso, Goldstein spent lockdown filming an unconventional comedy series with his then-girlfriend Beth Rylance at the flat they shared in south-east London.
Brett Goldstein’s lockdown comedy series
Called Lone Island, the ten-part spoof of Love Island followed Goldstein playing Bradley Pee from Peckham as he went on dates with household objects.
With no other contestants able to join him during quarantine, his character was paired with a houseplant and a muppet-style football.
The final episode, posted on August 3 2020, featured the contestants’ last night in the villa and a “sex party challenge”, before Bradley reflected on the “memories” and “connections” he had made.
Rylance, 35, created the clips and shared them on Instagram. She describes herself as an actress and writer, adding that she is “not Mark Rylance’s daughter”.
The series ended just 11 days before the first episode of Ted Lasso was released on Apple TV, launching the role that transformed Goldstein’s career.
Goldstein played Roy Kent, an ageing footballer whose sadness, depression and rage helped make the character one of the show’s most recognisable figures. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a comedy series for each of the programme’s first two seasons.
The series, about an American football coach managing a Premier League club in London, became a global hit during the Covid pandemic.
Goldstein’s relationship with Rylance became more widely known when he travelled to Los Angeles to collect his first Emmy in September 2021. During an expletive-filled acceptance speech, he said: “Beth, I love you.”
Rylance later posted a photograph of herself wearing a Roy Kent AFC Richmond shirt, bearing his name and the number six, and joked: “Okay, but why isn’t anyone talking about ‘my’ Emmy’s look???”
The couple separated the following year and unfollowed one another on social media. At the time, a source said: “They’re both in exciting times in their careers and really busy and they just couldn’t make it work.”
Goldstein and Jennifer Lopez in Office Romance
Goldstein and Lopez were quickly linked after filming Office Romance, although they had previously denied being in a relationship.
In June, Lopez said: “There’s never a time when I’m seen with somebody or working with somebody where they don’t try to put me with the person.”
She has also described Goldstein as “the best kisser” she had ever worked with. Lopez, who has been married four times, split from her latest husband, Ben Affleck, last year.
Goldstein’s work away from acting includes co-creating the science-fiction series Soulmates and the comedy drama Shrinking, which stars Harrison Ford. He also co-wrote and produced Office Romance.
His career breakthrough followed years of disappointment. He has spoken about taking small acting jobs, performing stand-up comedy and editing other people’s scripts while struggling to attract attention for his own work.
He moved from London to Hollywood three times for pilot season during the 2010s, returning unsuccessful on each occasion. He later said he had wondered whether he had “missed my window”.
Goldstein began seeing a therapist, who encouraged him to keep a gratitude journal and record ten things he appreciated each day. Although he initially found the exercise difficult, he said he eventually learned to identify as many as 100 positive moments daily.
He has acknowledged that he still experiences “dark days”, but said the process had changed him and made his pursuit of fame seem less important.
A failed pilot filmed in Los Angeles in 2017 nevertheless led to a meeting with producer Bill Lawrence. Two years later, Lawrence contacted Goldstein and suggested he would be “perfect” as a writer for Ted Lasso.
After a FaceTime call with Jason Sudeikis, Goldstein joined the writing team and later recorded a secret five-scene audition tape for Roy Kent. The performance impressed the production team and he was given the part.
Goldstein has said his understanding of Roy came partly from growing up around family friends who were professional footballers and witnessing the difficulty of retirement.
“How football is your life and then suddenly it isn’t – and you have no training for the real world or normal life,” he said in 2021. “There’s a real sort of tragedy to that.”
He added: “In terms of my career, I was definitely at a point where it felt like the train had passed me by. I had been working consistently but never to much notice from the industry. I loved the work but I was beginning to think it was all over. Then Ted Lasso happened. It really feels like magic.”
Goldstein was born in Sutton, south London, and studied film at Warwick University before moving to New York to train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He also briefly worked at a strip club in Marbella, Spain, bought by his father during what he described as a midlife crisis.
He made his television debut in two episodes of The Bill in 2009, later appearing in Derek and Doctor Who, as well as launching a comedy podcast.
He subsequently appeared as Hercules in a post-credit scene in Thor: Love and Thunder. Industry insiders have reported that Marvel is developing a film centred on the character, although no official release format has been confirmed.
