Zach Gilford News

Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford, 26, a Chicago native, got a degree from nearby Northwestern but actually rooted for Michigan. It's a long story.

He was raised on the North Side but would rather chug phlegm than see the Cubs win a World Series. Gilford is an Ozzie Guillen guy. A Bears guy (he owns an authentic Nathan Vasher Bears jersey). A Bulls guy (a high school friend tattooed "Pip 33" on him in honor of Scottie Pippen, and his dog is named Pippen).

Anyway, we were there to talk about him and Friday Night Lights, a series so achingly well written and well acted that it almost makes you want to go through high school again. Season Three begins October 1 on DirecTV.

It isn't a perfect viewing arrangement, but it's better than waving goodbye to Friday Night Lights altogether after Season 2.

Peyton Manning is a huge fan of the show, which chronicles life and times in a small Texas town and its obsession with high school football.

That's what Manning told Scott Porter, who plays Jason Street, the Dillon quarterback whose life is forever changed when he suffers a spinal injury. Porter introduced himself to Manning not long after the Colts won Super Bowl XLI.

"I don't want to bother you," Porter said. "I just wanted to tell you congratulations on the Super Bowl."

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Zach Gilford, who plays Matt Saracen on Friday Night Lights, has signed on to star in two new big-screen roles:

1. Opposite Emmy Rossum in the indie drama Dare.
2. A movie adaptation of the 1983 Sierra Club novel The River Why.

Dare is being directed by Adam Salky, who also directed the 2005 short film on which the feature is being based.

Zach Gilford plays one of three bad boy high school seniors who break their own rules and take the biggest risks of their lives.

He joins a cast including Ashley Springer (Teeth), Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live), and Sandra Bernhard. Shooting is already underway.

Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford: Coming to the big screen.

For River, Zach Gilford is set to play Gus Overton in the story of a young fisherman who leaves his big-city home and goes on a journey of self-discovery along the Oregon river.

Matt Leutwyler (Unearthed) is directing from a script by Thomas A. Cohen and John Jay Osborn Jr. Shooting is scheduled to start later this summer.

Not to worry, Zach will be back on Friday Night Lights, which is set to begin Season 3 in October on DirecTV and early next year on NBC.

Zach Gilford, who stars as Matt Saracen on NBC's Friday Night Lights, spoke to Variety as part of the publication's "Pushy Questions" feature. Here's a look at what's on the mind - and reading list, and more - of Zach Gilford.

Last book I bought:
"God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens

Book I'm reading:
"What Is the What" by Dave Eggers

Total number of books I own:
Over a hundred, I have no clue.

Three books that mean a lot to me:
"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Our America" by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman with David Isay
"Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer

Last film I saw:
"King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters," directed by Seth Gordon

Three films that mean a lot to me:
"Braveheart," directed by Mel Gibson
"Glory," directed by Edward Zwick
"Trainspotting," directed by Danny Boyle

Last CD I bought:
"Finding Forever," Common

Song currently playing in iPod:
"Idioteque," Radiohead

Three songs that mean a lot to me:
"Poor Places," Wilco
"Heartbeats," Jose Gonzales
"The Final Countdown," Europe

Favorite Drink:
Guinness or water (straight from the tap)

Favorite Charity:
The Democratic Party

Favorite Vacation:
Any mountains in Alaska

Favorite Vice:
I'm cunning

Five people whom I'd like to see answer this survey:
Mos Def, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Professor Seaskin (my college philosophy professor), my dad

NBC has released promotional photos of the Friday Night Lights cast in advance of Season Two, which premieres October 5. We've got them all here!

Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen)

Follow the jump for the rest of these great Friday Night Lights cast pics ...

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In anticipation of Season Two of Friday Night Lights, we're taking a closer look at each of its primary cast members, most of whom you probably don't know very much about. Well, it's high time that changed!

Yesterday, we profiled the brooding Taylor Kitsch, who plays running back Tim Riggins. Today, we'll take a look at the talented young man who plays Panthers field general Matt Saracen - Zach Gilford.

Zach Gilford was born on January 14, 1982. Born and raised just outside Chicago, he graduated from Evanston Township High School in 2000 and Northwestern University in 2004, right in his hometown. He has two sisters.

Playing star quarterback Saracen isn't a stretch for Gilford, a big sports fan who grew up dreaming of being a professional basketball player (despite his modest 5'9", 180-pound frame) and played football himself in high school.

A die-hard Chicago Bulls backer, Zach Gilford has said his hero growing up was Michael Jordan, yet he named his dog Pippen (in honor of Bulls great Scottie Pippen) and even got a "Pip 33" tattoo on his calf at age 13.

Theater also occupied a place in Zach Gilford's life from a young age, though, as he performed in numerous productions in high school and college.

He began acting because a girl he liked was in a play, and interestingly, Gilford may have gotten some early preparation for his future role of Matt Saracen by dating his high school principal's daughter back in high school.

Gilford played in a production of Equus, SubUrbia, Women and Wallace and The Laramie Project at Northwestern, where we majored in education and theater, and moved to New York in 2004 with hopes of becoming an actor.

Zach's big break came on Friday Night Lights, and he now resides in Austin, Tex., where the series is filmed. He has also appeared in The Last Winter (2007) as Maxwell McKinder and Rise: Blood Hunter (2007) as a sailor.

An avid outdoor enthusisast, during his breaks from filming, he spends his time leading climbing expeditions in Alaska or British Columbia.

When shooting for Season Two began in July, it was like the first day back to school for the returning cast of Friday Night Lights, reports the Austin American-Statesman.

Probably compounding that feeling this feeling was the fact that they were shooting at an Austin alternative school.

Though the show only earned two Emmy nominations, spirits remain high on the set.

Taylor Kitsch (pictured, who plays Tim Riggins), returning from shooting an independent film called Gospell Hill, said he was glad to be back and was happy to slip back into Riggins' evolving world of problems.

"It feels funny. It feels good," Kitsch said.

"We are all so lucky."

Taylor, who recently bought a condo in South Austin near the Alamo Drafthouse on Lamar Boulevard, is taking the show script by script.

He said he wasn't bitter about the show's Best Drama snub, but there's no doubt members of the cast were, in fact, snubbed.

"Truthfully, Kyle Chandler really deserved it. He's the spine of the show." Kitsch said. "Hopefully it will give the show more fuel for the fire. It hasn't taken away from the confidence we all have in each other."

Spoken like a true leader on the football field.

Meanwhile, Adrianne Palicki (Tyra Collette), who spent time back home in Ohio and in L.A. with Connie Britton for the summer, says a lot of loose ends get tied up in the first two episodes of Season Two, including the return of the character who tried to sexually assault Tyra.

Palicki says she's getting lots of positive feedback from fans, especially those who appreciate the show's strong female characters.

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