Friday Night Lights Cast: Where Are They Now?

Friday Night Lights Cast: Where Are They Now?

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Friday Night Lights Cast: Where Are They Now?

For this list, we’ll be looking at what the stars of the hit football television drama “Friday Night Lights” have been up to since the show ended in 2011.

Who’s your favourite Dillon resident? Let us know in the comments below!

#10: Gaius Charles

Brian “Smash” Williams may have left the show after Season 3, but he never left our hearts, or our screens. He’s racked up a few movie credits to his name, such as the Angelina Jolie film “Salt”. On the small-screen, he’s starred in the cult-favorite Shondaland show “Grey’s Anatomy” as Dr. Shane Ross. It started out as a recurring role, but he quickly became a series regular for a time. He also had main roles on “Aquarius”, and “Taken”, though both shows only ran for two seasons. These days, he plays a farmer named Bronson on “Roswell, New Mexico”. He also has a recurring role as Reverend Carter on “God Friended Me”. If that’s not versatility, we don’t know what is.

#9: Scott Porter

He’s most well-known for bringing beloved quarterback Jason Street to life. But since then, Porter has maintained a pretty steady rate of new projects. Most notably, he went on to star as Southern lawyer George Tucker on the Rachel Bilson led dramedy “Hart of Dixie”. He’s also had multiple guest roles on shows including “The Good Wife”, “Why Women Kill”, and “Harley Quinn”. His latest project is the 2020 Netflix original, “Ginny & Georgia”. Off-screen, he spends his time watching sports, and hanging out with his wife Kelsey Mayfield and their two adorable children. Fittingly, he met Kelsey on the set of “Friday Night Lights”! It turns out he’s a family man just like Jason was.

#8: Aimee Teegarden

To this day, the role of Julie Taylor remains what she’s known best for. And while it may be her most memorable performance, it wasn’t her last one. Teegarden’s film credits include “Scream 4”, and 2020’s “Guest House”. As for television, she was cast as the lead of the 2014 CW drama “Star-Crossed”, which unfortunately got cancelled after just one season. She also played Ella on the equally short-lived 2016 show “Notorious”. Some of her other credits include a recurring role on “The Ranch”, and the television movie “Once Upon A Christmas Miracle”. Plus, if you go on her Instagram, you’ll see countless pictures of her adorable pup!

#7: Zach Gilford

Since winning over viewers everywhere as the awkward but lovable Matt Saracen, Gilford has diversified his portfolio. Namely, he starred in the horror flick “The Purge: Anarchy”, which co-starred his wife, Kiele Sanchez. But he didn’t leave the small-screen behind. In 2019 he appeared in the ABC mystery drama “The Family”. Unfortunately, it was cancelled after one season. In 2017, he starred in the web television series “Lifeline”. Currently, he appears in “LA’s Finest” as Ben Walker. He also has a recurring role as Gregg on the hit show “Good Girls”, and has a part in the upcoming show “Hombre”. However, his talents go beyond film and TV: he even played Taylor Swift’s love interest in the music video for her song “Ours”. He’s definitely not a one-trick pony.

#6: Adrianne Palicki

After leaving Dillon and misunderstood cool-girl Tyra Collette behind, Palicki went on to snag the role of Lady Jaye in the action flick “GI Joe: Retaliation”. She also had supporting roles in “Red Dawn” and “John Wick”. On the small-screen, she joined the cast of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” as Bobbi for 31 episodes. Interestingly, she took that superhero expertise and wrote a comic book, “No Angel”, with her brother. Currently, she stars in Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi dramedy “The Orville” as Commander Kelly Grayson. And while her Dillon High days are behind her, she still visits her old stomping grounds when she’s in Texas. You can take the girl out of the town, but you can’t take the town out of the girl!

#5: Jesse Plemons

Since his portrayal of Landry Clarke came to an end, Plemons has kept busy. His credits include “Black Mirror” and movies like "Game Night", "Battleship", and Scorsese’s critically acclaimed “The Irishman”. He also appeared in "I'm Thinking Of Ending Things", which received rave reviews. Plus, he cemented himself as part of the "Breaking Bad" universe, starring in the tv show and its 2019 spin-off movie El Camino. It’s also important to mention his main role on “Fargo”. While his character story was interesting, the show is important to Plemons for a different reason. He starred in Season 2 with his now fiancee Kirsten Dunst, with whom he welcomed a son in 2018. He also has a slew of projects slated for 2021 releases. It’s safe to say he’s doing pretty well for himself.

#4: Minka Kelly

She captured our hearts as “girl-next-door” Lyla Garrity, and continues to impress us to this day. On the small-screen, she played Eve in the “Charlie’s Angels” reboot, which was unfortunately cancelled almost immediately. She’s since had successful roles in shows like “Parenthood”, and now stars in “Titans” as Dawn Granger, aka Dove. On the big screen, she’s been in “The Roommate”, “Just Go With It”, “Searching For Sonny”, and “The Butler”, among others. Her newest film is titled “She’s In Portland”. And she has another movie, “Lansky” currently in post-production. Not to mention she is an entrepreneur! She has worked for years with the female-driven sustainable brand “ABLE,” whose goal is to empower women globally. She even designed a jewelry line for them. You go, girl!

#3: Taylor Kitsch

It looks like Tim Riggins is all grown up! Since 2011, the man formerly known as Dillon’s resident bad boy has taken on a mix of projects. His film credits include "John Carter", "Lone Survivor”, and “Savages”. He also starred in "Battleship" alongside his FNL co-star Jesse Plemons. In 2019, he appeared in “21 Bridges”. As for TV, he was in season 2 of the anthology crime drama "True Detective", and in the miniseries “Waco”. Plus, he’s the lead in the upcoming TV series "Shadowplay". Unfortunately though, its premiere was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. As for Kitsch’s personal life, he built a house in Texas after the show ended, keeping true to his “Friday Night Lights” roots. It’s nice to see some things never change.

#2: Kyle Chandler

Coach Taylor was tough but fair, and Chandler’s portrayal made him extremely memorable. In the time since the show ended, he’s had roles in movies such as “The Wolf Of Wall Street”, "Zero Dark Thirty", “Game Night” (with Jesse Plemons), and “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”. He’s also set to appear in the latter film’s sequel, “Godzilla vs. Kong”, which is slated for a 2021 release. He’s also got the film “The Midnight Sky,” which is in post-production — though he hasn’t abandoned television. In fact, he starred in the Netflix original drama "Bloodline", a thriller about dark family secrets. Plus, he appeared in "Catch 22", a satirical miniseries about war. He jokes that his family is happy his job gets him out of the house. And we’re thrilled to watch what he makes!

#1: Connie Britton

Arguably the show’s biggest star, Britton has not slowed down since bringing Tami Taylor to life. Notably, she played country superstar Rayna James in the popular TV show “Nashville”. In recent years, she’s starred in “Dirty John”, “American Horror Story”, “9-1-1”, and “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”. As for movies, her work includes but is not limited to “Bombshell”, and 2020’s “Good Joe Bell”. Plus, in 2019 she inked a “first look” deal with Amazon Studios to develop shows for Prime Video, gaining some well-earned control behind-the-scenes. And while she mainly uses social media to advocate for causes she cares about, you can catch glimpses of her with friends and family on there too. All we can say is Connie forever!