Aimee Teegarden Recalls ‘Wonderful’ Reunion With Friday Night Lights’ Zach Gilford and Scott Porter
Aimee Teegarden doesn’t know which former Friday Night Lights costar she’d ask to join the Hallmark family, but she isn’t ruling out another football project.
“I see castmates every now and then at different events or things like that or just catching up,” Teegarden, 34, exclusively told Us Weekly of her FNL coworkers while promoting her newest Hallmark Channel film, An Easter Bloom.
Teegarden noted that she recently had a reunion with Zach Gilford and Scott Porter in June 2023 as part of their “It’s Not Only Football: Friday Night Lights and Beyond” podcast. (Gilford, 42, and Porter, 44, launched the podcast in 2022 alongside Parenthood alum Mae Whitman.)
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“It was really great seeing them and just catching up,” she gushed. “They have full-on kids and wives and things like that!”
The actress played quarterback Matt Saracen’s (Gilford) high school sweetheart, Julie Taylor, on the NBC series from 2006 to 2011. Julie was also the daughter of lead character Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his wife, Tami Taylor (Connie Britton).
Porter, meanwhile, portrayed the initial Dillon Panthers’ quarterback Jason Street, who after getting injured gives up his position to Matt.
“It was really wonderful just reconnecting with people who have been in your life [during] your formative years,” Teegarden told Us of Gilford and Porter, who have both since gotten married in 2012 and 2013, respectively. “Everybody gets busy with life and just being able to spend some face time was great.”
Looking back, Teegarden said the Texas-based TV show “played such an important part of my life and was such a huge part of my life for so long.” She noted that “football is having a massive resurgence” so she wouldn’t be opposed to doing another project about the topic.
However, when asked which FNL castmate she’d want to collaborate with for a Hallmark rom-com, Teegarden couldn’t pick.
“That is a tough one, I dunno if I have an answer for that one,” she replied, teasing, “I mean I guess it would really just depend on the project and story line.”
Fans are still hopeful for an on-screen FNL reunion, but for now, they can catch Teegarden in Hallmark Channel’s An Easter Bloom. The spring movie premieres on Saturday, March 30.
“I've never done an Easter film before,” Teegarden told Us of her reason for signing onto the project. “I just thought there were a lot of really beautiful connections and relationships in the script between all the characters, and it felt like a really fun opportunity.”
In the film, Teegarden plays a gardener named Amanda who is trying to save her family’s floral farm by entering a floral design competition. Along the way, she meets a pastor named Derrick (Benjamin Hollingsworth) and his mother, Lori (Frances Flanagan), who help restore her faith and get her ready for the event.
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“The heart that ties through the script is really about community and having people around you that support you in the good times and the bad,” Teegarden explained, noting that for her character there is an added layer of Amanda’s “journey through grief and refining her sense of purpose.”
She teased that unlike many Hallmark movies, the spark between Amanda and Derrick is more of a side story.
“It is really an interesting thing about the script that the love story isn't the main focus,” Teegarden revealed to Us. “Because I think [it's] really refreshing and I feel like it's a similar [and] inclusive story, especially for Easter.”
An Easter Bloom premieres on Hallmark Channel Saturday, March 30, at 8 p.m. ET.
