Issue Number 1000 | Kyle Chandler | Advocate.com Kyle Chandler  |  | Advocate.com

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Kyle Chandler

Beloved for series such as Homefront and Early Edition, Kyle Chandler scores a touchdown as Coach Eric Taylor on NBC’s critically acclaimed Texas-set high school football drama Friday Night Lights, now in its second season. An Emmy nominee (for playing a doomed bomb squad leader on Grey’s Anatomy), this good ol’ Southern boy really blew our minds with the news that a group of crazy gays helped shape him into the man he is today.
A shorter version of this story appeared in The Advocate  January 15, 2008
Kyle Chandler

Are you surprised to find out that you have a big gay following?
Well, I hadn’t thought about it, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t. I didn’t do anything to y’all! [Laughs] Actually, I told a friend of mine that I was doing this interview, and he said, “What gay people follow you?” 

We tend to follow handsome men. Do you work hard to look good?
Not as hard as I should. I’m 42 now, and I find myself slowing down a little bit. Doing the show and flying back and forth from Austin to Los Angeles takes it out of you. And I’ve got a wife and a couple kids, so I have to deal out all my attention and time there. When the show shuts down, that’s when you get to reinvent yourself, recuperate, get back in shape, and get ready to do it all over again. 

Was the big 4-0 a difficult milestone?
No. I don’t worry about age. I figure every extra year is a good thing. I’ve got enough things to worry about it in life than getting older. I like living. 

But is it a bit depressing to be surrounded by a bunch of 20-year-olds in their physical prime on Friday Night Lights?
Hell, yeah, it’s depressing! Bastards. Especially that Taylor Kitsch, showing himself off in all those damn muscle magazines and everything. Meanwhile, I’m counting my extra gray hairs every morning. But it’s neat to see those guys do well. I was there at one point, so I know where they are. They’ve got great years ahead of ’em. 

You couldn’t be in those magazines?
Hell, I guess I could. As long as it’s from the neck up or the ankles down. 

Is it a very “boys will be boys” atmosphere on set, particularly during those locker room scenes?
Yeah, they’re usually smacking each other with towels, pulling the towels off of each other, bragging about their virtues here and there -- you know how it is. 

You paint a beautiful picture, Kyle.
[Laughs] And those shower scenes that are not on film sure have sparked some curiosity on the set.
The show has dealt with racial tensions but no homophobia among the teammates. Since you have freedom to ad-lib, you should throw that topic out there.
Maybe I’ll do that this afternoon. I’m gonna tell Smash Williams that I think he’s gay today and see what he says. [Laughs] 

But seriously, what might happen if a player came out?
I think it would make a pretty interesting story line, but it’s a rough time to be bringing that up seeing as though we’re in the middle of a strike. Now you call me and suggest it!

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Voss is the editor in chief of HX magazine.

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