Friday Night Lights, Speed Racer, Prom Night, Music & Lyrics, Justice League Unlimited (rumored)
I fell in the love with the idea of playing a kid who loses everything and has to come to grips with that.
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Scott Porter loves football! Not only does he play a football player on TV, he loves playing the game in real life, too. We caught up with the star of Friday Night Lights at his home in Austin, Texas, where the series is filmed. Read on for his thoughts on life, fame, and playing Jason Street, a high school quarterback who becomes paralyzed in the first episode.
Jane: First things first—what’s your favorite football team?
Scott: In college football, it’s the Nebraska Cornhuskers (he grew up in Nebraska). In pro football, it’s the Denver Broncos.
Jane: I know you’ve done a lot of theater. What’s it like doing a TV series?
Scott: In theater, you do the same show every night. But with Jason, I have a character who’s constantly evolving. You’re on your toes a little bit more, but at the same time, you have a few chances to get it right, as opposed to being on stage.
Jane: Are you comfortable with being a TV star?
Scott: I’m a firm believer that if you go looking for fame, it’ll find you. But if you treat acting as your work and your profession, I really believe that it won’t. There are a good number of TV stars you don’t see in the tabloids all the time, because they just live a real life with their friends and family. I haven’t had many people recognize me, but the ones who have are very nice and polite.
Jane: Had you played football before you took on this role?
Scott: Yes, I played wide receiver for Lake Howell High School in Florida. We had a great team, went to the state semi-finals my junior and senior high, and had three future NFL players. And I caught the game-winning pass of the final regular season to send us into the playoffs in my senior year. So I kind of had a little hero moment early on.
Jane: Were you ticked off when your character ended up paralyzed in the first episode?
Scott: I fell in the love with the idea of playing a kid who loses everything and has to come to grips with that. I just felt it was a great dichotomy – his on-the-field presence vs. off-the-field presence, how confident he is on the field and then to see him be a little shy. He’s going to have to become a man in a different way outside of sports. So I was very excited, and I wanted the role even more because of that.
Jane: How did you get the role?
Scott: I turned down Tarzan the Musical on Broadway to audition for pilot season. When I read Jason and saw what happened to him, I knew it offered a chance to be more than just a pretty face on TV. I knew it was a chance to do something special.
Jane: Is it hard to play a character who’s been paralyzed?
Scott: It’s a little bit tricky, a lot of physical things on top of the emotional aspect. It’s challenging, but that’s why I signed up for it.
Jane: How did you prepare for the role?
Scott: I went to a rehab center and met some amazing people. I met an 18-year-old kid who’d just gotten his professional bull-riding card, and he was thrown into a metal gate and lost it all. So I spent a lot of time with them and watched their workouts. Also watched some documentaries and movies about the struggles and accomplishments of quadriplegics.
Jane: When the accident happened, Jason told his girlfriend to go away and leave him alone.
Scott: Jason has come to grips with his injury and the rest of the town really hasn’t. He lashed out at Lyla (played by Minka Kelly) because she needs to open her eyes. He needs her to see what he’s seeing.
Jane: Do you know if he’ll recover?
Scott: We’ll see him start regaining things slowly. Whether or not he’ll ever walk again, I don’t know. We’re shooting episode 10 right now, and there’s another sport he gets into. So he finds a way to use his competitive edge a little.
Jane: Why do you think Friday Night Lights works so well?
Scott: It’s an honest, genuine show. The way it’s shot is very cinematic. It doesn’t look like anything else on TV. And it trusts the intelligence of the viewer to feel some of the underlying currents and emotions. There’s a misconception that it’s a football show, but it’s really not. It’s about the people on the team and the people in this town that’s obsessed with football.
Jane: Did you know about the high school football culture in Texas?
Scott: I had heard about it, but until you’re actually here, you can never fully understand it. Out here, you have a town with a population of 15,000 with a stadium that seats 18,000 that spends $1.8 million on its turf. There’s a school here that has a five-year waiting list for tickets. If you have a kid in fifth grade, and you want to go watch him play, you have to sign up in fifth grade so that when he becomes a freshman, you’ll have tickets to see him. You might as well be a pro team at that point.
Jane: Any funny behind-the-scenes stuff you can tell us?
Scott: We’re just big kids when we get on the field. I have a strong belief that if you put a ball in a room full of boys, something’s going to get broken. It’s the same with us. We go out to film the football stuff and if there’s a ball on the ground, we’re running off to play football. I was in my wheelchair the other day running patterns. And we’re like a little family. I’m heading off to play basketball with Jesse Plemons (who plays Landry Clarke). Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen) also plays basketball. We get together a lot and play X-Box.
Jane: What’s your favorite video game?
Scott: It’s a draw between NCAA Football 07 and Lego Star Wars.
Jane: Best thing about being on a hit TV show?
Scott: The ability to learn from the other actors around me. We have a very unique set where we’re allowed to ad lib a lot. I brought that with me from theater, because you have to be able to roll with the punches. I’m really blessed to be a part of a great family of actors and to be able to learn on this show.
Jane: Any cool perks?
Scott: I went and played flag football with Hall of Fame football players in Miami for the NFL Kick-Off Party. I would have never had that opportunity had I not been on this show. I get a little star-struck at some of those events. I played with Marcus Allen and Chris Carter and John Madden…it’s a very cool thing.
Jane: Favorite TV show (other than yours)?
Scott: My top-five list is Heroes, Lost, Smallville, Sports Center, and – this is where I’m going to show that I’m a nerd—Justice League Unlimited. I’m a huge comic book geek. I go every Wednesday and get my new books.
Jane: Favorite comic book hero?
Scott: I’m a huge reader of X-Men, but there’s a new book out called Invincible that I just love. It’s from Image Comics, and it’s written by Robert Kirkman.
Jane: Favorite book?
Scott: Lord of the Rings. I read a lot of Dragonlance, too.
Jane: Favorite Movie?
Scott: Another top five list: Lord of the Rings Trilogy – that counts as one!—Shawshank Redemption, Big Trouble in Little China—which to me is just the classic B-Movie—Good Will Hunting, and Braveheart.
Jane: Favorite snack food?
Scott: At the movies, I get some popcorn with a little butter, then pour a bag of peanut M&M’s into it. Accompanied by a Diet Coke, which I think is funny, because it’s a Diet Coke with buttered popcorn – like, what am I really saving myself at that point? If you get a drink tray and pour the popcorn in there, it’s a flat surface and you can find the M&M’s easier. If you don’t, they fall to the bottom of the bag. I’ve got it down to a science.
Jane: Food you’d NEVER eat?
Scott: I can’t eat asparagus. I’ve tried and I just can’t.
Jane: Actor you really admire?
Scott: I hate to see him vilified in the press, but I’ve always wanted to work with Mel Gibson. I really enjoy Matt Damon and Leonard DiCaprio. I just saw them in The Departed. That movie was amazing. Behind the camera, I’d love to work with Bryan Singer. He humanizes heroes and creates these great stories. And I think Paul Haggis is a genius. And of course, I wouldn’t mind working with Jessica Alba or Rachel Bilson, but that’s just me!
Jane: What’s Kyle Chandler like to work with?
Scott: Kyle’s a dream. They give us a lot of freedom to create on the set, and Kyle constantly reminds us of that – not by telling, but just by doing. The rest of us watch him take these scenes off the page and go in a completely different direction. The intelligence he has as an actor and the honesty and integrity he has as a human being – it all comes across in the show. And we have such a young cast, it’s definitely helped us become better actors.
Jane: Any final thoughts?
Scott: I think the Washington Post put it really well. They said that not only are we the best new show of the year, we’re possibly the most misunderstood. All the football fans think we’re a team drama, and all the non-football fans think we’re a football show. We’re really neither of those things. We’re just a great drama about real people.
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Porter played Matthew in the original cast of the Off-Broadway hit Altar Boyz. He can be heard on the show’s cast recording. He also plays the role of Colin Thompson, the more visible part of the duo that fronts the fictional band PoP!, in the movie Music and Lyrics
Posted by mold remediation on Feb 12, 2008
I liked Scott Porter, how he deals with rehab and life after football.
Posted by teste de inteligenta on Feb 22, 2008
Movie stars in other regions too have their own star value. For instance, in Asian film industries, many movies often run on the weight of the star’s crowd pulling power more than any other intrinsic aspect of film making.
Posted by vedete nemachiate on Mar 14, 2008
You can’t ask a blind guy to play the role of a healthy person. It’s only normal to have one play something he can relate to. It makes the role easier. I never knew he’s a Broncos fan, I’m one too!
Posted by Bruce Springsteen Tickets on Apr 10, 2008
Scott may play a teenager on TV and in the movies, but he’s got the chiseled jaw of a grown man. Maybe his youthful good looks come from the fact that he’s still young at heart.
Posted by terenuri hala on Apr 16, 2008
Sounds like he is a real down to earth guy, someone you could sit down with and have a good conversation over a cup of Joe!
I like that.
Posted by water damage restoration on Oct 26, 2008
I wonder if he was a more popular celebrity if he would be as down to earth. He seems like a genuinely all-around good guy, but I’m afraid fame spoils the best of them.
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Posted by hdtv antenna on Feb 22, 2009
he’s so handsome. i watched his movie prom night thrice already. it was a good show.
love that movie. he’s like a gentleman person & a handsome one. 
Posted by GERLiEa. on Apr 11, 2009
You can’t ask a blind guy to play the role of a healthy person. It’s only normal to have one play something he can relate to. It makes the role easier. I never knew he’s a Broncos fan.
Posted by club penguin on May 31, 2009
From my, not always successful experience, I learned that dieting is far from being the best way of keeping oneself fit. I kept to asparagus diet - http://www.ebook-search-queen.com/ebook/the/the+asparagus+diet.all.html for a certain period of time and together with kilos I’ve lost a significant part of my health. I’m sure now that everything is good only in a system tohether with healthy food, sport and positive way of thinking.
Posted by patricia on Jun 16, 2009
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