‘Friday Night Lights’ alums reflect on show’s legacy 20 years later

“Friday Night Lights” stars Aimee Teegarden and Adrianne Palicki are reflecting on the bond and family they developed while filming the hit series 20 years ago.

“It was a bunch of young kids moving into a city who didn’t really know each other. I think it kind of creates more of a bonding experience,” Teegarden told The California Post during the “FNL” reunion tour stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

She added that the show, which shot on location outside of Austin, Texas, filmed during a time in which networks produced big-scale pilots and no one from the cast was from the city.

“Friday Night Lights” — based on a 1990 book and then a 2004 movie, both of the same name — ran from 2006-2011 and featured Michael B. Jordan, Taylor Kitsch, Minka Kelly, Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and many more.

For Teegarden, who grew up in Downey, California, it marked her first time in Texas.

“I didn’t really watch football, I grew up playing baseball, that was like the big thing in LA,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy that it’s 20 years. I mean, it feels like yesterday, and it feels like a lifetime ago.”

Palicki, who played Tyra, loved Austin so much she stayed there after filming commenced.

“A lot of us moved there,” she told The California Post during the event, which was at Downtown LA’s Alamo Drafthouse. “It was just a lightning in a bottle situation … It was very special. And we were all hungry to do it. And we loved each other.

“We were not going home at the end of the night, we were all going out and drinking at Guero’s.”

Palicki is now working on a documentary series about “Friday Night Lights,” which she has been filming while on Plex and ATX TV’s five-city tour celebrating the 20th anniversary. 

After a screening of the season one episode “It’s Different for Girls” (handpicked by Teegarden), Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (“Angela Collette”) and Stacey Oristano (“Mindy Riggins”) joined Teegarden and Palicki, where the actress revealed she had interviewed creator Jason Katims earlier in the day, and was with executive producer Peter Berg the day prior.

“We’re going around and interviewing a bunch of people,” Palicki said. “My friend Shawn [Cauthen] produced ‘The Office’ docuseries for Peacock, it’s coming out soon. He approached me and said, ‘Do you want to be a producer on this?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely,’ because this show has changed my absolute life.”

Along with “most” cast members, Palicki has also interviewed professional football players.

“It’s about how this show, the movie, the book influenced not only television and film but influenced football players and influenced athletes in general, and Texas.”

“There’s so much like honesty and truth that plays out on it, which is something that I feel very grateful for,” Teegarden added. “I had no idea what a gift it was.”