‘Friday Night Lights’ actors reflect on show’s 20th anniversary and Texas ties
Derek Phillips and Stacey Oristano are still grateful for “Friday Night Lights” nearly 20 years after it premiered on NBC.
The Texas-set football series ran for five seasons from 2006 to 2011, and was inspired by Buzz Bissinger’s 1990 book and subsequent 2004 film adaption of the same name. While the book and film follow the real-life Permian Panthers football team, the show follows the fictional Dillon Panthers.
Phillips played Billy Riggins and Oristano played Mindy Collette, who eventually became a Riggins after the pair married in the season 3 finale.
The duo are back in Texas this month in support of a “Friday Night Lights” roadshow that’s celebrating the show’s big anniversary by visiting five cities across the country this summer. Each event will feature a screening of a cast-selected episode, followed by a live, moderated Q&A.
The roadshow is stopping by Dallas’ Alamo Drafthouse Cedars on Thursday, July 9, with Phillips and Oristano in attendance.
Ahead of the event, the duo spoke to the Star-Telegram about the show’s legacy and what the 20th anniversary means to them. There is also some discussion about Texas and its lovely summer heat.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Star-Telegram: Derek, Stacey, how are y’all today?
Derek Phillips: Doing good, man. Fun to be back in Texas.
Stacey Oristano: Yeah, it’s hot.
S-T: I was going to ask how y’all were faring with the heat. Only going to get hotter over the rest of the month and into August.
DP: I was saying to a friend of mine yesterday that L.A.’s made me soft, man. I cannot deal with the Texas heat the way that I used to. The second you get off the plane, you’re like, “Wow, we’re definitely back in Texas.”
S-T: I wanted to start with an obvious question: “Friday Night Lights” is turning 20 this year. What do y’all make of that?
SO: It makes me feel very old. Every time we talk about the 20th reunion, it hits me in the gut. I’m proud of it, but I’m not gonna lie, my first reaction is, “I am old.”
DP: It doesn’t make sense to me, honest to God. Because in some ways it feels every bit of 20 years ago, and then in other ways it feels just like yesterday we were shooting the pilot, you know? I think it was a little surreal. We had the 20th reunion at the ATX TV Festival earlier this year maybe a month or two back, and it was the first time everyone had been together in probably 10 years. I’ve seen everyone sporadically over the years, but seeing everyone together, it was like, “Yeah, we have definitely aged, we’re all getting older.” I don’t know, man. I just turned 50 this year too, so there’s a lot of these moments happening in my life that even when I say it, 50 doesn’t sound right. Saying that “FNL” is 20 years old doesn’t sound right.
SO: “FNL” can almost drink.
S-T: I’m curious how much of the show still impacts your daily lives, whether that’s fans stopping you on the street or keeping in touch with the cast. How does it?
DP: I mean, in every aspect of my life, really. I was a struggling actor with no work, survival jobs until I got this job, and this job changed all that for me. I’ve gotten to have a career, so I’ve always been so thankful for this show, for whatever career I’ve got. There’s very few days that go by that I don’t think about this. Even when we were in the process of shooting it, I think I realized very early on, maybe because I was a little older when I got it, I was 29 when I got “Friday Night Lights,” which in the acting business is like on your way out, aging. I remember being 29 and being so thankful after nine years of struggling to be a part of this thing, and I never took it for granted. I was always very aware that I was part of something that was really special.
SO: Yeah, it’s the same for me. If I look now at my like chosen family, the core group of it is like the people that we got on “Friday Night Lights,” like we’re all still incredibly close. Social media is like a blessing and curse, but the good part about it is that people who are seeing the show again or seeing it for the first time. I met some people that are just listening to our [”Friday Night Lights” rewatch] podcast for the first time, and hearing that is just like, I’m glad it still is in the zeitgeist.
DP: I just had someone reach out to me the other day to do a video for his wife on her birthday. His wife was like 36 years old or something like that and they had just watched the show for the first time earlier this year. Because of these platforms like Netflix and Paramount+ and different streamers, people are getting an opportunity to actually watch the show for the first time, so it keeps you in zeitgeist.
S-T: I was looking back on the show’s 10th anniversary, 15th and now 20th. What I found is that y’all specifically have been there every step of the way. You guys, of course, also had the rewatch podcast, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts.” This might seem like a dumb question, but I’m generally curious as to why you guys both keep showing up for the show?
SO: You should ask everyone else that because we wonder too [laughs].
DP: For me, personally, it’s because it just means so much to me, and it really is a fun opportunity to reconnect with new fans. I’ve always been very thankful to the fan base of this show. Unlike some other shows, our fan base was really crucial in this show surviving. Although the show has always been critically acclaimed and always got great reviews and always got great press, we were always on the cusp of getting canceled.
If it weren’t for the fans saving this show after season one and after season two and into season three, we wouldn’t have these opportunities, these relationships that got to grow behind the scenes. It’s all 100% because of the fans of this show, so I’ve always just been really thankful. This is our way of having an opportunity to meet them, learn their stories. Stacey was saying earlier, you can talk about that Stacey about the stories that you’ve heard from different fans that you’ve met.
SO: Like military guys that would watch it in their submarines. A family that I knew that was watching the show when they were rebuilding their house from Hurricane Sandy. But also to answer your last question, a lot of it is the fans, especially post-show, have gotten to see what our real relationships are like. People know that Derek and I love to tease each other, but we love each other.
S-T: Adrianne Palicki (Tyra) picked the episode for the Dallas event. Y’all get the San Antonio stop on July 16 and chose “Tomorrow Blues,” the season 3 finale. Why?
DP: For me, it was such a penultimate episode. Number one, we didn’t get to always be together on set, and this is one of those few times. I like Stacey’s answer for why we picked this better than my own, I want to steal her answer. But for me the biggest thing was like this was such a transitional moment in the show, like the whole entire fabric of the show was about to change.
It was no longer Dillon, it was gonna be East Dillon, there were gonna be all these new actors brought in. This is like the last time that all of the original cast was together. It’s always had a special place in my heart for that reason and that reason alone. Stacey, you said something about it earlier that I thought was really right on point.
SO: It was an episode where all of us were in the same location, but everybody got a moment, everybody had a story. Tim and Lyla have a sweet scene, Julie and Saracen have their moment, Kyle [Chandler] and Connie [Britton] were in a fight the whole time. I got to watch everybody work that day, and it’s like, “Oh, everybody’s so good.”
S-T: Last question for y’all: You guys are back in Texas for these events. What’s it like to be back here, and how often do y’all come back to the ole Lone Star State?
SO: I will tell you, as soon as we hang up here, I am going to eat authentic Texas barbecue. That is the most important thing.
DP: There’s a lot of nostalgia here. I grew up in Miami, Fla., but I went to school at Baylor University in Waco. I got to see one of my buddies today for lunch that I went to college with. For me, there’s just a lot of nostalgia every time I back here. I started a theater company in Dallas, gosh, 22 years ago called Second Thought Theatre with a group of friends, and it’s still going strong.
Just a lot of fun memories of my time in Texas. It’s always fun to come back. I always kind of feel like home is Florida, and home is Texas, and home is California for me. Those are the three places I’ve spent the most time in my life, and I just love coming back here.
SO: I’m going to Big Al’s [Smokehouse BBQ] for barbecue, because I have priorities.
“Friday Night Lights” is streaming on Prime Video and Paramount+.
