Taylor Kitsch, Kyle Chandler Discuss Friday Night Lights Reboot

Taylor Kitsch and Kyle Chandler are well aware of the Friday Night Lights reboot, but were they approached to reprise their roles?

“I’ve been asked and we’ll leave it at that,” Kitsch, 43, teased while appearing on SiriusXM’s The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw on Tuesday, January 7. “But I’m good. I’m always flattered. Never say never.”

Kitsch played the Dillon Panthers’ bad boy fullback Tim Riggins (No. 33) on all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, which aired on NBC from 2006 to 2011.

“I would come in and do something, maybe for an episode or something, but I don’t want to go and do the whole thing. I’d go and have fun,” Kitsch clarified on Tuesday. “But I don’t want to lead FNL or a reboot or anything. I love the continuous challenging roles and to keep pushing.”

When asked whether he would rather return as Riggins or as a new character, Kitsch said that he could “do both” if the opportunity presented itself.

“I could create something that could be hopefully pretty fun. But I think if you saw me as someone else, you’d be like, ‘That’s Riggins,’” the actor continued. “Especially in that element if you’re in Texas or doing it the way they’re gonna do it. I would go do maybe play an opposing team’s coach or something and be on screen for, like, eight seconds.”

Kitsch said it would be fun to have “a little” nod to his beloved character before putting the chapter behind him.

News of the upcoming Friday Night Lights reboot broke in November 2024, with Deadline reporting that the show’s original creators — Jason Katims, Pete Berg and Brian Grazer — were all involved in the project. While the series is still set in the world of high school football, a new cast of characters will be introduced to viewers.

Unlike his former costar Kitsch, Chandler, 59, hasn’t gotten the call just yet to return as the fan-favorite coach Eric Taylor.

“I have not. No calls. Nothing,” Chandler said during a Wednesday, January 8, appearance on the Today show. “I don’t know what I’ll say [if I’m asked].”

Chandler previously said that being the show’s lead taught him lessons about acting that he’s taken to every job since.

“That was probably one of the better acting classes I ever had. It was so enjoyable,” he shared with Entertainment Weekly in 2018. “I’ve shared some of the things that I learned from that job with other people, and they’ve thanked me for it.”