Chances are, you know Aimee Teegarden as Julie Taylor, the pitch-perfect Texan daughter of
Coach Eric and Tami Taylor on TV's Friday Night Lights.
Since the show went off the air, in 2011, some of its stars have gotten more attention
than others.
Taylor Kitsch is a household name and all-around heartthrob — despite facing his fair share
of disappointments.
Kyle Chandler is living it up on Netflix's Bloodline and in new classics like The Wolf
of Wall Street.
Michael B. Jordan has arrived as a powerhouse of drama and action fare, and Connie Britton's
still running the small screen scene with her musical role on Nashville.
But other members of the show have been conspicuously out of the spotlight since the show went off
the air — Aimee Teegarden in particular.
With so many A-listers flourishing after those Friday Night Lights dimmed, why isn't Teegarden
scoring a touchdown in her career right now?
Prom-bomb
After impressing as the angsty screen-teen, Teegarden landed a starring vehicle in Disney's
Prom, a bland barely-there movie which hit the box office with a thud.
No one's clamoring for a sequel, and Teegarden's a casualty of its failure.
Her output since that movie has been a lot less cinematic, with TV movies like Beneath
the Darkness, Beautiful Wave, and 2016's little-seen My Bakery in Brooklyn.
While there's no one saying she won't get there eventually, don't expect to see her
top-billed for anything high-profile anytime soon.
Looking for her niche
Before her breakthrough role on Friday Night Lights, Teegarden was pretty much an unknown
in Hollywood.
And after five years of shooting on-location throughout Texas, she's still trying to figure
out her place in Los Angeles.
She's been dipping her toes into both film and television.
She scored a leading role on the CW's short-lived Star-Crossed that didn't work out.
And she also won a role in the horror sequel Rings — that sank like a stone.
However, she saw some success in the Netflix comedy series The Ranch with a two-episode
turn, so maybe her country niche has been there right in front of her all along.
Hey, maybe she can head over to Nashville and belt it out with her former TV mom.
Unfortunate forces
In her late-twenties, Teegarden has found herself at a crossroads that so many other
actresses before her have faced: too mature to play kids anymore, yet still young enough
to have difficulty transitioning into adult roles.
Not that she hasn't tried, of course.
As Ella Benjamin on ABC's short-lived show Notorious, Teegarden played a newbie at a
law firm, looking to climb the ranks.
Career-wise, it's a step in the right direction — and she's quite good on the show.
But neither her role, nor the show itself, has managed to make much of an impression,
and, as of the making of this video, its future at ABC is uncertain.
Low profile
After her long-running role on Friday Night Lights, Teegarden didn't appear on TV for
a little while, and her next appearance in a series wasn't on TV at all.
The result was Aim High, a two-season web series of roughly 10-minute episodes revolving
around a high school spy played by Jackson Rathbone.
In it, Teegarden played his punk-loving paramour, Amanda Miles.
Even though the pseudo-show was produced by a subsidiary of Warner Bros. and streamed
on Facebook in promising fashion, it still didn't have the furthest reach and failed
to spawn any kind of digital phenomenon.
Memorable...but also not
Even though Friday Night Lights went off the air in 2011, people still associate Teegarden
with her role on the show.
It's both the blessing and the curse of giving such an indelible performance: you're always
remembered for it, and yet you can't quite escape it yet.
At the same time, though, she's not exactly the most recognizable face from the show,
either.
The actress admitted that even fans of Friday Night Lights have a tough time recognizing
her in person, considering she started the show as such a youngster.
She told Fox News, "It's funny.
It takes people a hot second [to recognize me], because when I was in Friday Night Lights,
I had super blonde hair and bangs, and I was 16 when I started that show."
So, basically she's memorable for her breakthrough role — and yet not memorable enough at the
same time.
That's a tough line to walk.
She better call Coach Taylor in for one of his pep talks before planning her next career play.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."
"Can't lose!"
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