'Lights' isn't just football
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- Connie Britton admits she knew nothing about football before "Friday Night Lights" entered her life.
Worse yet? She probably wouldn't have watched a drama that had anything to do with the game.
"Eventually, I would have gotten around to it," she says. "And that's our challenge -- convincing viewers it's not about football."
Though it barely grazed the viewing radar last season, "Friday Night Lights" was renewed, with the hope folks like Britton would tune in once they realized it was a show that just included football. Programmers moved it to Friday nights -- just in case the title was a stumbling block.
Now, Britton says, "we've got to convince people they're not going to be subjected to hours and hours of football, scoring, blah, blah blah."
Instead, the NBC drama focuses on relationships -- between a coach and his team, a coach and his wife, a coach and his community. Unlike the movie (and the non-fiction book) with which it shares a title, it's not the story of actual people. It's a fictionalized look at a real situation.
That's key, says Britton. She played the wife of the coach in the film version and plays the wife of the coach in the TV series. In the film, "I was trying to be true to the woman I was playing. In the series, I'm taking from my own experience -- I'm trying to be a modern-day woman in the South. That gives me freedom."
Better yet, creator Peter Berg has charged his actors with making the words their own. "We have the freedom to improvise," says Kyle Chandler, the actor who plays Britton's husband and former coach of the Dillon Panthers. "There's a certain responsibility that comes with that freedom. It's a joyful thing, if we use it correctly."
Actors are asked to know their characters and their lines "110 percent," he says. "Then you can work with them."
To make the series look like a documentary, Berg has four cameras shooting every scene. "They're hidden off in the corners, so you never know they're there," Chandler says. "You've got to be prepared to throw everything out. It's at the director's discretion."
Filming moves quickly; actors are able to "draw things out you wouldn't see otherwise. It's like the first day of rehearsal on a play. It's when the most exploration gets done. In the beginning, it's scary but, after a while, it's like a drug. Every day I go to work I'm excited. I don't know what's going to happen."
Frequently, editors craft a different show than the one the actors think they're filming. "If you've got two-minute scenes shot eight times, that's a lot of film to deal with," Chandler says. "They'll take stuff from the end and mix it with stuff in the front and the scene will change. It will not be what you expected."
Since "Friday Night Lights" shoots in Austin, Texas, and is edited in Los Angeles, Chandler, Britton and company often don't know what an episode looks like until they watch it on television. "The editors can make a performance," Chandler says. "For them, it's got to be fun."
Meanwhile, the actors experiment. "It's not pure improv by anymeans," Chandler says. "But I don't think the actors are ever afraid to go too far. We go way too far. Just look at our gag reel."
The biggest offenders? Britton and Chandler. They enjoy teasing each other repeatedly. "I think we were friends before we even met," Chandler says. "We have a similar sense of humor. She lived in Virginia for a while. I'm from Georgia. We love taking the piss out of each other."
In the film version, Billy Bob Thornton played the coach. The husband/wife relationship was different, Britton says, but equally intriguing.
When Berg (who also directed the film) approached her about doing the series, she hesitated. "I had huge reservations. I wanted to show the impact of this woman in the community but I knew we didn't have the time in the film. When it came time for the series, I told him, 'I don't want to play the background wife of a coach.'"
He understood, assured her she'd be a key player and demonstrated as much with the pilot. Now, she's the series' leading lady -- a complex woman with her own concerns and relationships.
At the end of last season, she discovered she was pregnant and her husband was taking a coaching job in another town. When "Lights" premiered this year, she gave birth and struggled with problems of a long-distance relationship.
Eventually, Chandler says, his character will return to Dillon. "Something is going to bring him back that's going to involve a lot of other characters. It's like a sponge that sucks everyone in. They're going to do it in a nice, subtle way."
Meanwhile, Britton is on a campaign to get viewers to tune in. "Friday Night Lights" isn't about football, she insists. "It's about passion. This town's passion just happens to be football."
"Friday Night Lights" airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on NBC.
Acting inspiration
Wonder where Kyle Chandler gets his inspiration to play the winning coach of the Dillon Panthers? Look at "SpongeBob Squarepants," he says. "I steal most of my work from Patrick," he says. Actually, that's one of the few shows he gets to watch, since he's so busy with the series. He and his 5-year-old make it appointment television "and we love it."
To create the role, Chandler visited with a number of Texas coaches. "I was sitting with one of them on his deck, holding his baby while he was barbecuing and I said, 'Why do you do it?' And he said, 'I love the kids.' And that sort of hits it right there. That's truly the basis of coaching -- you do it because you love the kids."
Worse yet? She probably wouldn't have watched a drama that had anything to do with the game.
"Eventually, I would have gotten around to it," she says. "And that's our challenge -- convincing viewers it's not about football."
Though it barely grazed the viewing radar last season, "Friday Night Lights" was renewed, with the hope folks like Britton would tune in once they realized it was a show that just included football. Programmers moved it to Friday nights -- just in case the title was a stumbling block.
Now, Britton says, "we've got to convince people they're not going to be subjected to hours and hours of football, scoring, blah, blah blah."
Instead, the NBC drama focuses on relationships -- between a coach and his team, a coach and his wife, a coach and his community. Unlike the movie (and the non-fiction book) with which it shares a title, it's not the story of actual people. It's a fictionalized look at a real situation.
That's key, says Britton. She played the wife of the coach in the film version and plays the wife of the coach in the TV series. In the film, "I was trying to be true to the woman I was playing. In the series, I'm taking from my own experience -- I'm trying to be a modern-day woman in the South. That gives me freedom."
Better yet, creator Peter Berg has charged his actors with making the words their own. "We have the freedom to improvise," says Kyle Chandler, the actor who plays Britton's husband and former coach of the Dillon Panthers. "There's a certain responsibility that comes with that freedom. It's a joyful thing, if we use it correctly."
Actors are asked to know their characters and their lines "110 percent," he says. "Then you can work with them."
To make the series look like a documentary, Berg has four cameras shooting every scene. "They're hidden off in the corners, so you never know they're there," Chandler says. "You've got to be prepared to throw everything out. It's at the director's discretion."
Filming moves quickly; actors are able to "draw things out you wouldn't see otherwise. It's like the first day of rehearsal on a play. It's when the most exploration gets done. In the beginning, it's scary but, after a while, it's like a drug. Every day I go to work I'm excited. I don't know what's going to happen."
Frequently, editors craft a different show than the one the actors think they're filming. "If you've got two-minute scenes shot eight times, that's a lot of film to deal with," Chandler says. "They'll take stuff from the end and mix it with stuff in the front and the scene will change. It will not be what you expected."
Since "Friday Night Lights" shoots in Austin, Texas, and is edited in Los Angeles, Chandler, Britton and company often don't know what an episode looks like until they watch it on television. "The editors can make a performance," Chandler says. "For them, it's got to be fun."
Meanwhile, the actors experiment. "It's not pure improv by anymeans," Chandler says. "But I don't think the actors are ever afraid to go too far. We go way too far. Just look at our gag reel."
The biggest offenders? Britton and Chandler. They enjoy teasing each other repeatedly. "I think we were friends before we even met," Chandler says. "We have a similar sense of humor. She lived in Virginia for a while. I'm from Georgia. We love taking the piss out of each other."
In the film version, Billy Bob Thornton played the coach. The husband/wife relationship was different, Britton says, but equally intriguing.
When Berg (who also directed the film) approached her about doing the series, she hesitated. "I had huge reservations. I wanted to show the impact of this woman in the community but I knew we didn't have the time in the film. When it came time for the series, I told him, 'I don't want to play the background wife of a coach.'"
He understood, assured her she'd be a key player and demonstrated as much with the pilot. Now, she's the series' leading lady -- a complex woman with her own concerns and relationships.
At the end of last season, she discovered she was pregnant and her husband was taking a coaching job in another town. When "Lights" premiered this year, she gave birth and struggled with problems of a long-distance relationship.
Eventually, Chandler says, his character will return to Dillon. "Something is going to bring him back that's going to involve a lot of other characters. It's like a sponge that sucks everyone in. They're going to do it in a nice, subtle way."
Meanwhile, Britton is on a campaign to get viewers to tune in. "Friday Night Lights" isn't about football, she insists. "It's about passion. This town's passion just happens to be football."
"Friday Night Lights" airs at 8 p.m. Fridays on NBC.
Acting inspiration
Wonder where Kyle Chandler gets his inspiration to play the winning coach of the Dillon Panthers? Look at "SpongeBob Squarepants," he says. "I steal most of my work from Patrick," he says. Actually, that's one of the few shows he gets to watch, since he's so busy with the series. He and his 5-year-old make it appointment television "and we love it."
To create the role, Chandler visited with a number of Texas coaches. "I was sitting with one of them on his deck, holding his baby while he was barbecuing and I said, 'Why do you do it?' And he said, 'I love the kids.' And that sort of hits it right there. That's truly the basis of coaching -- you do it because you love the kids."
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Gail wrote on Oct 26, 2007 11:27 AM: