A recent Friday evening inside Austin’s Paramount Theatre downtown felt like being in the Panthers locker room in Dillon, Texas.
Kyle Chandler, who played Eric Taylor on “Friday Night Lights,” brought the room to a quiet halt as he spoke about his experience on the show, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
“It’s hard to describe this show. It was so magical. It really truly was and not just for what the audience sees, but for the actors,” Chandler said. “Going onto a show like this is like going to a masterclass in acting. It’s not Shakespeare and classical, it’s freedom.”
Chandler was with a majority of the show’s cast for a panel at ATX TV Festival. It was a fitting addition to the event’s lineup, said Emily Gibson, a co-founder of the festival. The TV show, which ran 2006-2011, helped launch ATX TV Festival in 2012 with an appearance from Chandler and Connie Britton, his on-screen wife Tami Taylor.
Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton laugh during an ATX TV Festival panel. (Maggie Boyd/ATX TV Festival)
Before Chandler had the floor during this year’s panel, the crowd and the cast on stage had been rowdy. It was a fun and funny discussion. Britton recorded Jesse Plemons from backstage as he revived his character Landry’s high school band Crucifictorious with two songs ahead of the talk. Roars from the audience broke out when Gaius Charles, who played Smash Williams, was introduced on stage. A whole bit about Chandler replacing Billy Bob Thornton, who originally played coach in the movie version of the show, kept everyone laughing throughout the night. Chants of “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose” filled the theater more than once.
But when Chandler had the mic, the whoops faded and it felt like we were getting a real life pep talk from Coach Taylor. Even 20 years later, Chandler has a way with the cast and the fans who love them.
“We were lucky because we were doing our thing in Austin, Texas,” Chandler regaled, clad in a pair of cowboy boots.
The show filmed in Texas long before the state legislature passed a huge, $1.5 billion incentives package for filmmakers to make their movies in Texas. Pflugerville High School served as the show's fictional Panthers Stadium, a Dairy Queen on Manor Road was turned into “Alamo Freeze,” and Landry’s band played at The Broken Spoke.
While the cast of “Friday Night Lights” only includes a couple of real Texans, the show still holds importance throughout the state. This writer’s dad said, “Oh! You’re seeing Coach?!” when I told him I was headed to the panel. At the afterparty, dozens of attendees made homecoming mums in Panther blue and yellow and donned team baseball caps. A docuseries on the show is in the works, too.
At one point, Chandler asked the Paramount crowd if anyone was out at the stadiums as extras while the show was being filmed. Hands shot up all over.
“Ya! Thank you,” Chandler yelled back.
