Ted Lasso's Tanya Reynolds Unpacks Alice's Feelings Toward Rebecca — Plus, Why Is Rebecca Keeping Keeley In The Dark?

There's some new blood in Richmond's ranks — and we're not just talking about the Lady Greyhounds.

Among the new additions is Alice Chilton (played by "Sex Education" alum Tanya Reynolds), a character first referenced in Episode 1, when Higgins informed Rebecca that she'd thrown her hat in the ring to manage the women's team.

"Coach Chilton? I don't think she likes me very much," Rebecca remarked, to which Higgins responded, "Oh, it's not you. She doesn't like anyone."

"Wonderful," Rebecca replied. "So if Ted says no, and we can't hire a growling rottweiler, there's always Alice Chilton, waiting in the wings, growling even louder."

And growl she did — at least in the metaphorical sense — in her first scene in Episode 2, when she questioned Rebecca's decision to hire a man to coach the women's team without ever seriously considering her — or any woman, for that matter — for the top job, sending the AFC Richmond owner into a spiral over whether she's enough of a feminist.

Alice announces that she'll resign at the end of the week and requests a letter of recommendation. But when Rebecca visits her come Friday and defends herself against Alice's read, she's surprised to learn that Alice has chosen to stay on as Ted's assistant coach. Rebecca then attempts to feign excitement, which Alice sees right through. (Season 4, Episode 2 also reveals what happened to Jamie Tartt and why he left Richmond, which you can read about here.)

So, what's really going on between Alice and Rebecca?

"Obviously, [their relationship] starts a little prickly," Reynolds tells TVLine in the video interview above. "Alice, I think, is actually soft as pie underneath everything, but she's just trying to be tough. She's not there to make friends. She's there to be great — to do her job, and do it really, really well."

There's also an element of intimidation at play, but not in the way you might assume coming out of Episode 2.

"I think that Alice is actually quite intimidated by Rebecca, and so that kind of just makes Alice get her back up even more," Reynolds explains. "I think they're both just kind of intimidated by each other. And they're just very different people. Actually, I don't think they are that different, but they think they're very different people, and so they just clash."

Of course, intimidation is only part of the equation. "To Alice's mind, Rebecca has completely betrayed her by offering a job that should be hers to some American bloke," Reynolds says. "For Alice, that's just the ultimate betrayal."

So, does Rebecca's impassioned defense of herself at the end of Episode 2 do anything to change Alice's mind about her new boss? "Alice isn't easily won over, so I think even when Rebecca kind of, sort of apologizes — you know, in that wonderful speech that she has — I think Alice is like, 'OK, fine. That's fine. I don't have to like you, but fine,'" Reynolds says. Still, she teases, "They do kind of soften as they go on."

Alice isn't the only woman whose working relationship with Rebecca gets complicated in Season 4. Across the first two episodes, she repeatedly keeps Keeley out of the loop on matters pertaining to the women's team. When Higgins suggests sharing a financial report with Keeley in Episode 2, for instance, Rebecca insists that they look it over first — behavior that raises the question of whether Alice might have a point about Rebecca's willingness to put her trust in other women. But Waddingham emphatically rejects the notion that Rebecca doubts Keeley's business acumen.

"There's no part of her that thinks that Keeley is inferior in terms of what she's capable of," Waddingham tells TVLine. "It's purely the fact that she knows the bones of Keeley and that her exuberance can be naive. She takes it very seriously being the mentor of Keeley and the beloved friend of Keeley as well, so she's just trying to drip-feed her, rather than limit her."

Juno Temple sees it similarly, pointing out that Rebecca is also waiting until she has all the facts about the probability of success before bringing the women's team's CMO into the conversation. But even if Rebecca's intentions are good, that doesn't necessarily mean her approach is.

"There is no part of Rebecca, ever, that would feel that she wasn't capable, but she just has to nudge her in the right direction," Waddingham reiterates. "But it just comes out the wrong way." Adds Temple: "That's going to be a really great part of this season, too, of them navigating that little element."

For more from Reynolds on Alice's relationship with Rebecca — plus Waddingham and Temple on what's ahead for Rebecca and Keeley — press PLAY on the video interview above, then leave a comment and let us know what you thought of "Ted Lasso" Season 4, Episode 2.