5 Real-Life Relationships from ‘Friday Night Lights’
The Friday Night Lights couples lit up the screen just like the stadium lights lit up the Dillon Panthers field weekly, but these off-screen couples managed to shine just a little bit brighter. See which on-screen couple tried to make it work behind the scenes, plus each of the other real-life relationships of the high school football drama.
1. Minka Kelly and Taylor Kitsch
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Everyone ate up the juicy relationship between football star Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) and head cheerleader Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly), but did you know the actors were really dating behind the scenes? Kelly and Kitsch fell for each other off camera as their characters were engaging in an affair on-screen. Kelly explained their connection in her memoir, Tell Me Everything, “[He]took my breath away.”
The couple dated during the entirety of season 1 and for the beginning of season 2 but the producer of the show warned them not to get involved. “He basically said, ‘Don’t f-----g do it. It’s not a good idea and it always ends badly.’ He didn’t know he was too late. Or at least pretended he didn’t.”
Although the couple was a fan favorite, Kelly explained that their relationship got more toxic as time went on. She said, “filming scenes again and again with the same people can sometimes bring out aspects of personalities that are less than stellar.”
2. Kyle Chandler and Kathryn Chandler
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We love Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor, who was in a love story on-screen with Connie Britton’s Tami Taylor. But Chandler has been in his own loving marriage with Kathryn Macquarrie since 1995. The couple met at a dog park in the ‘90s, but it wasn’t until Kathryn initiated a conversation that they got together.
“She knows who I really am and still appreciates me… My wife knows I'm a complete idiot, and she reminds me every day that success is meaningless if I'm pretending to be someone I'm not.”
3. Connie Britton and David Windsor
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Connie Britton, who portrays Tami Taylor, has her own real-life love story with boyfriend David Windsor. The couple met at a party in 2019 where Britton didn’t know anybody.
“I’m talking to my friend,” she explained, “and he looks past me and he sees David across the room, and he is, like, ‘There’s someone here you have to meet.’ I’ll never forget that moment, because I turned around and I looked at who he was pointing at and I was, like, ‘Oh yeah, I want to meet him!’”
4. Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez
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Zach Gilford, who portrays Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights, met his real-life wife on the set of a 2010 TV pilot for The Matadors. They tied the knot in 2012 and have been happily married since. Gilford and Sanchez, both actors, have worked on multiple projects since, but Gilford said it could get complicated balancing married life and work.
“We’ve worked together several times and in very different situations,” Gilford explained. “But there’s a theme on set when you are coworkers but also a married couple. It’s kind of trying to walk that tightrope.”
5. Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst
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Jesse Plemons, who portrays Landry Clarke, met actress Kirsten Dunst in 2015 on the set of Fargo, where they played high school sweethearts. A year later, the two sparked romance rumors, but they didn’t marry until 2022. The couple welcomed two children prior and are still happily together.
“Aside from the brilliant actor you are, I have also had the even greater pleasure of getting to know you as a person outside of work — KiKi or Keeks,” Plemons said of Dunst in a sweet speech at her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. “Seeing the kind of mother and wife, daughter, sister, friend and cohort you are is why I and all of your friends and everyone else are here today and why we all love you.”
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