Friday Night Lights is celebrating its 20th anniversary, with it still regarded as one of the best programmes of the 21st century. Inspired by a 1990 book of immersive journalism by H. G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights was initially adapted on the big screen by director Peter Berg. Realising the potential for a series, Berg began developing a show that shines a light on American life.
For those who haven’t seen it, the series follows a high school football team in the fictional town of Dillon, a small, close-knit community in rural West Texas. Led by Coach Eric Taylor, the show lives by the mantra ‘clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose’.
A Cult Classic in the Streaming Age
Over the course of five seasons, Friday Night Lights addressed issues such as family values, school funding, racism, substance use, abortion, and lack of economic opportunities. Despite it receiving low viewership when it aired, it has become a huge hit in the streaming age.
With Saturday (October 3) marking 20 years since the pilot aired, it’s time to look at what the cast of Friday Night Lights have been up to since the cameras stopped rolling.
Kyle Chandler - Eric Taylor
Eric Taylor is the dad we all wanted, brought to life by Kyle Chandler, Coach Taylor was known for his tough exterior. However, once you got to know him, you wanted nothing more than to make him proud and earn his respect. Prior to Friday Night Lights, Chandler was known for his work in Homefront, Early Edition and Grey's Anatomy. After Friday Night Lights ended in 2011, Chandler went on to appear in a string of Hollywood movies.
He’s delivered memorable performances in Super 8, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Carol, Manchester by the Sea, Game Night, First Man, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Kong. Not turning his back on TV, Chandler played John Rayburn in the hit Netflix drama Bloodline from 2015 to 2017 and Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22. Recent weeks have seen explode in popularity once again thanks to his work as Hal Jordan in the hit superhero series Lanterns.
Connie Britton - Tami Taylor
Forming the second half of TV’s happiest marriage was Tami Taylor, played by Connie Britton. Not just relegated to being a mother and wife, Tami’s arc over the course of the series saw her become the principal of Dillon High School, helping the players off the pitch. Interestingly, Britton was also in the film version of Friday Night Lights. When the show got underway, she had already worked on Spin City, The West Wing and 24.
Britton is easily one of television’s go to stars, with her playing Vivien Harmon in American Horror Story: Murder House and Rayna Jaymes in Nashville. The latter saw her working alongside the late Hayden Panettiere. Recent years have seen Britton pop up in Dirty John, the first season of HBO’s The White Lotus, Overcompensating, Rooster and Zero Day, a Netflix political series with Robert DeNiro.
Aimee Teegarden - Julie Taylor
Poor Julie Taylor never had things easy on Friday Night Lights. Julie was often ignored, leading to her making plenty of bad decisions as the seasons rolled by. All that being said, her romance with Matt Saracen is among the best tales of young love we’ve seen. Aimee Teegarden initially practised her craft on Cold Case, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Hannah Montana. After Friday Night Lights, she played Amanda Miles in the 2010 comedy web series Aim High with Jackson.
Teegarden also worked with Panettiere on Scream 4, playing the horror loving high schooler, Jenny Randall in the film’s opening scene. She also appeared in films such as Prom, Love and Honor, and Beneath the Darkness. Her career suffered a blow when The CW decided not to continue with an adaptation of Kiera Cass's dystopian novel The Selection, where she played America Singer in a pilot. Since then she’s appeared in shows such as Star-Crossed, The Ranch, The Rookie and 9-1-1, as well as acting in the 2017 horror movie Rings.
Zach Gilford - Matt Saracen
Matt Saracen was the rookie who unexpectedly found himself the Dillon Panthers’ starting quarterback. Always looking out for his grandmother, Matt tried his best to rise above life constantly trying to knock him down. Zach Gilford, who appeared as Taylor Swift's love interest in her music video Ours, quietly developed an acting career to be proud of. In 2013, he appeared with Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand, getting to work with the Hollywood great.
Also appearing in Devil’s Due, he played a big part in the hit horror sequel The Purge. TV proved the place for him to be, with Gilford starring in The Family, Good Girls and L.A.'s Finest. Gilford, who is working on Evil Dead Wrath, earned further plaudits for his work in the horror series Midnight Mass and Criminal Minds: Evolution, with his real life spouse Kiele Sanchez playing his onscreen wife.
Taylor Kitsch - Tim Riggins
Tim Riggins was the definitive TV bad boy. With his long locks flowing in the air, Riggin somehow went from the guy who was secretly seeing his best friend’s girlfriend to a lovable figure who wouldn’t shy away from confronting those causing his loved ones hate. For a short period Hollywood appeared adamant that Kitsch was going to be a big star. Testing the waters by casting him as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he led Battleship and John Carter in 2012.
Sadly, both of those films were not only torn apart by critics, but are among the biggest box office bombs in Hollywood history. To his credit, it’s arguable that Kitsch shouldn’t have been given such a responsibility too early into his career. Thankfully, Kitsch has gone on to become a well respected character actor. While he wasn’t the next Leonardo Dicaprio, he did turn in strong performances in Savages, Lone Survisor, American Assassin, Only The Brave and 21 Bridges.
On top of this, Kitsch starred in the second season of the HBO series True Detective, and played CIA Ground Branch operative Ben Edwards in the Amazon Prime Video series The Terminal List. Fans loved him the latter to the extent that he landed a spin-off series called The Terminal List: Dark Wolf.
Minka Kelly - Lyla Garrity
Lyla Garrity was the cheerleader who had a constant crisis of faith throughout the early seasons of Friday Night Lights. From falling for Tim to realising she’s outgrown her small town, Lyla was an underrated part of the ensemble. After having a memorable cameo in 500 Days of Summer and a guest stint on the comedy drama Parenthood, Minka Kelly was in the short-lived revival of Charlie's Angels, and the films The Roommate and Searching for Sonny (2011).
Kelly, who is married to Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds, is one of few actresses who portrayed First Lady of the U.S., Jackie Kennedy, in Lee Daniels's The Butler alongside Oprah Winfrey. She also played Dove in the hit superhero series Titans, had a recurring role as Samantha in Euphoria and starred in the Netflix western romance drama series Ransom Canyon.
Adrianne Palicki - Tyra Collette
Beginning the series as Riggins’ girlfriend, Tyra spends most of the series actively hating Dillon, Texas and everything about it. Despite almost everyone doubting her, she manages to land a place at the University of Texas. Adrianne Palicki also went down the Hollywood route at first, landing strong supporting roles in Legion, Red Dawn, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and John Wick. Loving the action genre, she’s starred in a string of straight-to-streaming films.
From 2014 to 2016, Palicki played Bobbi Morse in the Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She joined forces with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane in the sci-fi comedy The Orville, which was a hit satire based on Star Trek.
Scott Porter - Jason Street
Viewers were left stunned during Friday Night Light’s first episode when Coach Taylor’s star footballer was left paralysed following a bad tackle. Battling with depression during his recovery, Jason went on to become a loving father who was proud of overcoming his hardships. One year before playing Jason, Scott Porter played Rex in the cult classic flick Speed Racer, which was directed and written by the Wachowskis. He also worked on the remake of Prom Night and romcom The Good Guy.
Porter is another Friday Night Lights star with a strong career, working on Dear John, The Good Wife, and Nomads. He played a lawyer in the hit medical dramedy Hart of Dixie from 2012 to 2015. Porter has since turned his attention to voicing video game characters in The Walking Dead, Minecraft Story Mode, Madden NFL 18 and God of War: Ragnarök. In 2024 he came second on The Masked Singer as Gumball, finishing behind Vanessa Hudgens’ Goldfish.
Jesse Plemons - Landry Clarke
Prior to becoming one of the stars of his generation Jesse Plemons played the lovable goofball Landry Clarke. Landry was a character so beloved that Friday Night Lights’ fanbase decided to ignore that he once killed a guy. One year after finishing his time as Landry, Plemons played the wicked Todd in the final season of Breaking Bad, returning for the sequel film El Camino. Other TV appearances have seen him show up in Fargo, Black Mirror and Love & Death.
Highly regarded by his peers, most of Plemons’ best work has been in supporting roles in films such as Paul, The Master, Bridge of Spies, Game Night, The Irishman, Judas and the Black Messiah and Killers of the Flower Moon. There isn’t a year that goes by where he isn’t in at least one of the best films of the year. Plemons has also played lead roles in Other People, I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), Windfall, and Kinds of Kindness, with him winning the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for the latter. He received an Oscar nomination for his work as a rancher in The Power of the Dog.
Last year saw him receive BAFTA, Actor Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Lead Actor for his portrayal of a conspiracy theory obsessed beekeeper in Bugonia, where he tormented Emma Stone. Away from the spotlight, he’s married to Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst, who he shares two children with.
Gaius Charles - Brian ‘Smash’ Williams
Brian ‘Smash’ Williams was one of the show’s best ever players. He had a memorable arc from an arrogant star running back to a humbled, mature college player who stopped living solely for himself. Gaius Charles went on to take a break from acting to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Drew University. During his studies, he traveled to India to study the world’s religions and to Uganda, where he preached at a local church and later raised funds to support a youth conference focused on HIV/AIDS awareness.
When it was time to return to acting, Charles joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy as medical intern Shane Ross. He played a pivotal part in Sandra Oh’s exit storyline. In 2017, Charles starred in the first season of NBC's television drama series Taken, based on the Liam Neeson franchise. He’s also appeared in Aquarius, Necessary Roughness, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Blindspot, Pan Am, and Law & Order: SVU.
Michael B. Jordan - Vince Howard
Despite focusing on the first three seasons of Friday Night Lights’ cast, we can’t ignore Michael B Jordan, who has easily had the biggest career out of all of his former co-stars. Showing off a strong range as Vince Howard, it wasn’t long until Jordan showed why he’s one of the world’s strongest leading men. He appeared in 2012’s Chronicle before giving a terrific performance in 2013’s Fruitvale Station, playing the late Oscar Grant. It was the first of many team-ups between him and Ryan Coogler.
Jordan went on to work with the esteemed director on Creed, Black Panther and Sinners. The latter is the vampire flick that managed to gross $371.5 million and receive a record-breaking 16 Oscar nominations. Among Sinner’s wins on the nights was Jordan getting his crowning moment as he won the Best Actor Oscar earlier in the year. He was voted winner ahead of Marty Supreme’s Timothee Chalamet, One Battle After Another’s Leonardo DiCaprio, Blue Moon’s Ethan Hawke and The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura.
Collecting his Oscar, Jordan said: “I know you guys want me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me. So thank you for keeping...for keeping betting on me. And I’m gonna keep stepping up.”
