The Stars of Friday Night Lights: Where Are They Now?
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KYLE CHANDLER
Since spending five seasons coaching the Panthers, Chandler has carved out his niche on the big screen as a supporting actor, with standout roles in The Spectacular Now, Zero Dark Thirty and Manchester by the Sea, among others. He hasn’t completely abandoned the leading man position, though: Chandler starred in three seasons of Netflix’s family drama Bloodline opposite Sissy Spacek and Linda Cardellini. Chandler is marred to wife Kathryn and has two daughters, Sawyer and Sydney.
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CONNIE BRITTON
Britton hasn’t deprived TV screens of her trademark perfect hair since her time as steadfast coach’s wife Tami Taylor. She unknowingly conceived the antichrist in the first season of American Horror Story, gave an irresistibly salacious performance as Faye Resnick in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story and headlined Nashville as fictitious country music legend Rayna Jaymes, which she (devastatingly) cut ties with. Britton adopted her son Yoby from Ethiopia in 2011, and the single mom is keeping the door open for a potential partner. “I’ve always hoped to find a man that will be a great husband and a father,” she previously told PEOPLE. “I have faith that I’ll find that. It’s just in a different order.”
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AIMEÉ TEEGARDEN
After portraying the coach’s daughter and cheerleader, Teegarden starred in several short-lived television series, including Star-Crossed on The CW and Notorious on ABC. The actress most recently starred in the Ashton Kutcher series The Ranch.
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JESSE PLEMONS
Friday Night Lights may have catapulted Plemons into the spotlight, but Fargo was the show that landed him a fiancée. It was through the FX crime series that Plemons played husband to Kirsten Dunst, leading to their engagement (and in May 2018, baby!). Plemons, who also had a recurring role on Breaking Bad, recently starred in the heartbreaking independent dramedy Other People, in which he played son to a cancer-stricken Molly Shannon.
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TAYLOR KITSCH
Aside from playing troubled football star Tim Riggins, Kitsch has led several big-budget action films, including Battleship and Disney’s John Carter, in which he held the titular role. His prestige projects include HBO’s buzzed-about anthology series True Detective and The Normal Heart, a TV movie centered on the AIDS crisis. “If I’m gonna fail, I’ll fail hard,” he previously told PEOPLE. “If I’m gonna do something, I’m all in.”
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ADRIANNE PALICKI
Palicki has solidified herself as an action star in movies like John Wick, Red Dawn and G.I. Joe: Retaliation, as well as with her recurring character on television superhero series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The fan favorite bad girl previously told PEOPLE which Friday Night Lights costar she had a crush on: “Kyle Chandler for sure. Come on, he’s Dreamy McDreamerson. He’s just that guy.” Palicki was engaged to John Wick castmate Jackson Spidell before calling it quits months before the wedding.
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ZACH GILFORD
Gilford, the Panthers’ trusty quarterback, married actress Kiele Sanchez of Lost fame in 2012. The pair has since costarred in several projects together, including the television series Kingdom and horror sequel The Purge: Anarchy.
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MINKA KELLY
Kelly traded pom-poms for oven mitts, becoming quite the social media chef (check out her summer veggie soup recipe!). After Friday Night Lights, Kelly starred in the teen horror flick The Roommate, the Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It and in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, in which she played Jackie Kennedy. As for a return to her FNL role, the actress isn’t feeding a reboot. “I think some things are better left [with people] wanting more,” she previously said.
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DEREK PHILLIPS
Since playing Taylor Kitsch’s brother on the show, Phillips has kept busy with steady acting roles, including a stint on Longmire and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — alongside another Friday Night Lights alum, Adrianne Palicki. Phillips and Kitsch’s camaraderie is described by Palicki as rambunctious, to say the least. “When [Kitsch] and Derek Phillips … get together, it’s literally like frat brothers; you can’t understand what they’re saying, there’s a lot of grunting and a lot of obnoxiousness,” she previously told PEOPLE.