Who Auditioned for ‘Friday Night Lights’? Emma Stone and More Stars Who Were Almost Dillon Panthers
Some modern-day stars did not get their “Texas Forever” moment on Friday Night Lights, despite auditioning for the iconic NBC show.
FNL followed a fictional high school football team in the (also made up) town of Dillon, Texas from 2006 to 2011. The team and town were played by stars Connie Britton (Tami Taylor), Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor), Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins), Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen), Minka Kelly (Lyla Garrity) and Scott Porter (Jason Street), among others.
Texas native and Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell revealed in March 2023 that he unsuccessfully auditioned for two roles on the show.
"I auditioned for J.D. McCoy," Powell shared during an appearance on the “It's Not Only Football: Friday Night Lights and Beyond” podcast, hosted by Porter, Gilford and fellow actress Mae Whitman. The role of J.D. McCoy ultimately went to Jeremy Sumpter.
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Porter chimed in, calling Powell “too likeable” to play that character. “I'm telling you that right now,” the actor continued.
"The audition for that went so bad," Powell added. "I was bummed out when that did not work out. I so thought I was going to get that."
Porter speculated that Powell was “too young," for the role, explaining that he was in his mid-20s when cast as Jason Street.
"You were actually in high school and they didn't like to cast people in high school unless... Jesse Plemons (Landry Clarke) was the exception,” Porter added.
Powell shouldn’t get too down about the rejection. He’s not alone in losing out on the chance to play a Panther. Keep scrolling to see which other stars auditioned for Friday Night Lights — but didn’t get cast:
Glen Powell
Aside from his J.D. McCoy audition, Powell was also up for the role of Tim Riggins, famously played by Taylor Kitsch. The actor had a third audition for Luke Cafferty, which ultimately went to Matt Lauria.
"I think that was the problem auditioning for this was I loved the show so much that [it's like] you're almost like too big of a fan. You know what I mean, you care too much," Powell said on the March 2023 podcast. "Acting so much is like throwing it away and kinda being able to kinda interpret it in way — and being a fan of the show and auditioning for it, you may feel too much pressure."
Chace Crawford
The Gossip Girl star, who is friends with Kitsch, was up for the role of Jason Street back in the day.
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“I auditioned for that show and didn’t get the quarterback,” he shared on a “Call Her Daddy” podcast appearance in June 2024. “Was devastated at the time.”
Emma Stone
Stone nearly had a major role as Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) but didn’t get the part.
"When I was auditioning in L.A. when I was 15, I got a couple [of] callbacks for Friday Night Lights for Coach Taylor’s daughter,” she recalled on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in June 2024. “I was totally devastated that it didn’t work out.”
