For some actors, Friday Night Lights served as a springboard for future successes; for
others, it was the pinnacle of their career. Here is what the cast of Friday Night Lights
has been up to since their time walking the halls of Dillon High.
Although playing Jeff Metcalf on ABC's sitcom Homefront lit the flame of Kyle Chandler's
acting career, it was the role of Eric Taylor, head coach of the Dillon Panthers football
team on Friday Night Lights, that truly poured gasoline on it. As Taylor, Chandler gave an
incredibly believable, grounded performance that perfectly captured a teacher and family
man. The role even earned him a well-deserved Emmy win for Lead Actor in a Drama Series
in 2011.
After officially hanging up his whistle in 2011, Chandler became a hot name in Hollywood.
He's appeared in a slew of well-received movies, including The Wolf of Wall Street, First Man,
and Manchester by the Sea. And in 2015, he dipped back into TV, starring in Netflix's
Golden Globe-nominated series Bloodline.
While the respected actor has enjoyed a wildly successful decade, it appears as though the
Godzilla: King of the Monsters star hasn't let fame change his priorities. In a recent
interview with Men's Journal, Chandler discussed the life-changing decision to leave Los Angeles
and move his family to a small town outside of Austin, Texas, in order to focus on family
life with his wife and two daughters.
"Texas forever."
Apparently, Connie Britton was destined to play a football coach's wife. The Spin City
veteran not only played Sharon Gaines, the wife of Billy Bob Thornton's Coach Gaines
in 2004's Friday Night Lights movie, but also Tami Taylor, the high school guidance counselor
married to Coach Eric Taylor in NBC's Friday Night Lights television series. As Tami, Britton
shone as a strong-willed mother and devoted wife, nabbing a pair of Emmy nominations in
2010 and 2011.
After Friday Night Lights, Britton took on the role of Vivien Harmon on the first season
of Ryan Murphy's wild horror series American Horror Story. Although Britton was excited
to play a different type of part, she was a little nervous about some of the show's
risque scenes. According to the actress:
"I needed to shake things up, but also worried, 'My God, what are people going to think when
they see Tami Taylor having sex with a man in a rubber suit?'"
Fortunately, Britton's time on American Horror Story did nothing but boost her profile, and
she soon found herself starring in a plethora of both films and television series alike,
perhaps most notably as Rayna Jaymes from CMT's megahit Nashville.
"Just want you to know I got my eye on you."
Britton has also played notable parts in shows like 9-1-1, Dirty John, and SMILF, as well
as movies like American Ultra and Bombshell, so it's safe to say she's keeping busy.
After stealing America's heart playing troubled teen with a heart of gold Tim Riggins on Friday
Night Lights, Taylor Kitsch seemed destined for the big time. While splitting time walking
the halls of Dillon High, Kitsch appeared in small roles in a couple of blockbuster
action movies, including Snakes on a Plane and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but audiences
were excited to see what he could do as a leading man.
Unfortunately, things didn't quite pan out as expected in that regard. After Friday Night
Lights wrapped, Kitsch landed two leading parts. The first was as the titular character
in Disney's ambitious sci-fi blockbuster John Carter, which completely bombed in the box
office, reportedly losing $200 million. And the other was as Lieutenant Alex Hopper in
Battleship, which also ended up being a massive flop. While the actor bounced back with smaller
roles in successful projects like Lone Survivor and HBO's True Detective, Hollywood still
seems hesitant to cast him as a lead again.
The Savages star still gets work from Hollywood, most recently in the Chadwick Boseman-led
21 Bridges, but, much like fellow Friday Night Lights alum Kyle Chandler, he actually lives
in Austin, Texas, where he spends his time playing guitar and doing photography. Although
he may not have left Texas, don't expect Tim Riggins to show up in a series reboot anytime
soon. He vowed in 2019:
"There's no way. If you want to give me $25 million I'll do it, but that's my price."
It's hard to reminisce on episodes of Friday Night Lights without Minka Kelly's Lyla Garrity
coming to mind. The Panthers cheerleader had a real girl-next-door vibe about her, and
although her dating exploits often muddied her reputation, she was a staple to the series'
success. The show catapulted Kelly into the limelight, and she was even crowned Esquire's
Sexiest Woman Alive in 2010.
Fresh off her Friday Night Lights fame, Kelly starred in the 2011 horror film The Roommate,
which attempted to capitalize on the fact that she and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester
look uncannily similar. She also had roles on network TV shows like NBC's Parenthood
and ABC's ill-fated Charlie's Angels reboot, but she really didn't have another noteworthy
gig until she played Dove on DC's Titans in 2018.
"You're late, Boy Wonder."
"You know he always likes to make a dramatic entrance."
While Kelly has managed to fly below the radar in terms of filmography, she has stayed in
the tabloids for other reasons, namely, her love life. Much like Lyla Garrity, Kelly's
dating life has been a bit of a roller coaster over the past decade. She's been linked to
an abundance of celebrities, ranging from Chris Evans to Sean Penn. Sounds like Lyla
doesn't just have eyes for football players after all.
Although it's been several years since her last time playing Tyra Collette, Adrianne
Palicki still has her own ideas on where she thinks Dillon's resident "bad girl" would
be today. She told Texas Monthly:
"Riggins is still in Dillon, Texas, and married to Tyra. They're a messed-up version of Coach
and Tammy, 'cause he's still Riggs. But he's coaching, and she's now the counselor...It's
the next evolution."
While it may have been tough to say farewell to the angsty Texas teen, Palicki has achieved
a respectable career since her time on Friday Night Lights, especially in the butt-kicking
genre. She starred in 2012's poorly reviewed remake of Red Dawn before appearing in major
action blockbusters G.I. Joe: Retaliation and John Wick. And she also gained notoriety
by playing fan favorite superheroine Mockingbird on ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Most recently, the Legion vet has been showcasing her comedic prowess alongside Family Guy's
Seth MacFarlane on Fox's Star Trek spoof The Orville. As Commander Kelly Grayson, Palicki
plays the first officer, and ex-wife of MacFarlane's Captain Ed Mercer. Although the show takes
place in outer space, certain aspects of it feel similar to the Dillon High alum. She
told Vanity Fair:
"I can compare this to Friday Night Lights in a sense. The reason it's so grounded is
because it's grounded in reality. You could be taking us off the spaceship and have the
exact same situations happen."
From rural Texas to outer space, there's apparently no telling how high Tyra Collette will fly.
In the first episode of Friday Night Lights, Matt Saracen, a shy, awkward nobody, gets
a chance to shine as the Dillon Panthers' quarterback. Much like his character, it was
also Zach Gilford's first opportunity to show what he could do. As Saracen, Gilford captured
the essence of a high-school average Joe, and really became one of the more relatable
characters on the show.
"Your dad's not able to see what I see. You're a different kid than you were two weeks ago."
"I am?"
"You are."
Perhaps it was this natural underdog quality that helped him land roles in various projects
after Friday Night Lights wrapped, including horror flicks The Purge: Anarchy and Devil's
Due. While film roles are all well and good, you have to imagine that one of Gilford's
most unique credits was playing the boyfriend in Taylor Swift's music video for her song
"Ours."
Most recently, you can see Gilford on NBC's Good Girls, where he plays Mae Whitman's ex-husband
Gregg. It's good to see that Matt returned to his home network.
Dallas-born actor Jesse Plemons may have been an unknown when he first played lovable loser
turned high school jock Landry Clarke in Friday Night Lights, but that isn't the case anymore.
The Emmy-nominated star has been all over the map since 2011, with a wide-ranging acting
resume. Aside from Landry, he is perhaps most recognized as sadistic Todd, Jesse Pinkman's
captor and torturer in the wildly popular Breaking Bad, but he has also played prominent
roles on the big screen, starring in movies like Black Mass, Bridge of Spies, and Game
Night.
Plemons was also one of the lead characters on the second season of FX's anthology series
Fargo. While the show brought his career success in many facets, including his first Emmy nomination,
it also greatly enhanced his personal life by introducing him to his co-star and future
fiancée, Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst. The two were engaged in January of 2017 and welcomed
their first son, Ennis, in mid-2018.
While Plemons stays busy in Hollywood, most recently appearing in Netflix's Oscar-nominated
gangster movie The Irishman, he's loving fatherhood, saying:
"It's the best, man. It's so hard to put into words. All the cliches are true, what every
parent tells you."
Coach Taylor would be proud.
Aimee Teegarden was only 16 when she was cast as Julie Taylor, the strong-willed daughter
of Coach Eric and Tammy Taylor in Friday Night Lights. Although it was her first pilot, she
had enough advice from some of her more experienced costars to know that the show was a rare opportunity.
She told Nylon:
"Kyle Chandler, I remember, he used to say to us, 'You kids, you have no idea how good
you have it. You have no idea.' So I think, at the time, we all kind of just really tried
to enjoy it as much as possible, and it was just such a special show and it was an amazing
time in my life."
Since Friday Night Lights ended, Teegarden has kept one foot in network television, first
starring as Emery Whitehill on the CW's romantic sci-fi series Star-Crossed and then as Ella
Benjamin on ABC's Notorious.
"I can't be a part of this."
Although her film career never really caught fire, she has popped up in the occasional
horror movie, including 2011's Scream 4 and 2017's Rings. And she recently starred in
the 2019 Hallmark movie Once Upon a Christmas Miracle.
Out of all the Friday Night Lights stars, Teegarden arguably looks the most different
today. In fact, most people apparently don't recognize her if they see her about. She told
Fox411:
"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."
Poor Jason Street. The one-time quarterback had such a promising future ahead of him prior
to his devastating injury in Friday Night Lights' pilot, placing him in a wheelchair
for the remainder of the show. Fortunately for Scott Porter, the actor playing Street,
Friday Night Lights was just the beginning of a highly successful acting career.
Porter officially hung up his cleats after the series' third season, but he did come
back to make an appearance in season five. After that, he continued to work in TV, most
notably as George Tucker in Hart of Dixie. He has also appeared in a plethora of movies
throughout the years, including Prom Night and Speed Racer.
While the Nebraskan actor has shared on screen steamy scenes with Minka Kelly and Rachel
Bilson, when the cameras go off, he is a devoted, happily married husband and father. In 2013,
his wife, Kelsey Mayfield Porter, was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease, a serious neurological
condition that affects brain cells. In response, the couple has been working to raise awareness,
and, more importantly, how to end the disease. Porter revealed:
"I want them to know that you don't have to pass the gene down. We did something called
PGD IVF. It's genetic testing for embryos, and you can make sure that you don't pass
it down any longer. McCoy, my son, is clean...that Huntington's gene will end with my wife."
As Brian "Smash" Williams, Gaius Charles got to channel his inner Boobie Miles to portray
a talented yet egotistical athlete. However, the actor in real life is apparently very
different from his onscreen counterpart. According to Charles:
"When we all first got cast, we all went out to lunch with [executive producer] Peter Berg...We're
talking and talking...He goes, 'You're really different from your character. I mean, really
different.' And I'm like, 'Okay, so should I get my burger to go? Am I fired?'"
Since Friday Night Lights, the New York City-bred actor has held minor roles in several movies
and television shows. He appeared in 2010's Salt alongside Angelina Jolie, and more recently
in NBC's spinoff/prequel series Taken. But Gaius is perhaps best known for playing Dr.
Shane Ross in the later seasons of ABC's Grey's Anatomy.
We can't wait to see what he does next.
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