By Christina Radish
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Scott Porter at the NBC TCA All-Star Party held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on July 17, 2007.
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On the NBC television series Friday Night Lights, Scott Porter portrays Jason Street, the embattled quarterback who was paralyzed for life in the pilot episode of the first season. Falling from grace into a dizzying whirl of emotions after the injury, Street grappled with his new life, and came out of it a true hero and a man. As an assistant coach of the Dillon Panthers in the second season's early episodes, he was still a solid part of his former team. His character has now gone to Mexico looking for experimental treatments that may help him to walk again.
Upon relocating to New York City in 2005, the 28-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska starred in two off-Broadway productions, and nabbed roles in Music and Lyrics, starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, and the independent film Descent, starring Rosario Dawson. Although his first priority is the second season of the realistic football drama, Porter tells MediaBlvd Magazine that he is also looking forward to the release of the horror thriller Prom Night in February 2008, in which he is the male lead, opposite Brittany Snow, and the Wachowski brothers’ live-action Speed Racer, out in May 2008, in which he plays the title character’s brother.
MediaBlvd Magazine> Can you talk about the very loyal, dedicated fan following you have for the show, even though the ratings have never been huge numbers?
Scott Porter> It’s not only that once they watch it and like it, but once they watch it, they get their family and friends to watch it, too. It’s that home growth that we’re looking for, in season two. We just want to continue growing, and we’re in a great slot to do that. We had the season one DVD come out, and there are so many ways to view us online. Television isn’t the only way that people have watched this show. There are so many people that say they found it through a different avenue, and that now all their friends watch it. Every week, they’ll have everybody over to their house, and they’ll have a dinner party and watch the show. That’s the kind of fan base we have. They get together and watch it, in a social setting. It’s that exciting to people.
MediaBlvd> When you were doing research for Jason Street, in the beginning, did you talk to guys who had accepted this sort of handicap?
Scott> I hung out with them, constantly. I would go out to the bars with them. I would spend a whole day with them. Occasionally, I would get in a chair and go out in public with them, in a chair, to see how the world looks at you, and how the world treats you and, on top of that, how you really deal with that. It never goes away. Last season, Jason didn’t completely deal with it. He put his focus into Quad Rugby, and then he put his focus into the football team. So, this year, when he starts to regain feeling, all of the emotions that he never dealt with, and just bottled up instead, come washing over him. He’s really going to have to deal with it this year. I found out from a lot of the guys that those dreams never stop. You never stop having to deal with eventually wanting to have a family and kids, and wondering whether or not you can. It’s always going to come up, and it’s how you deal with it, on a day-to-day basis that matters.
MediaBlvd> Was there one particular guy that really inspired you?
Scott> Our technical advisor on the show invented Quad Rugby, and he has been through everything. He showed me the ropes in a way that nobody else could. He talked to me about things that a lot of people don’t want to hear, like how Jason could eventually have children. He told me how those things have to happen, and what kind of medical procedures have to take place. They’re really brutal, but he told me in a completely unabashed way. He was great with that. And then, outside of that, there was a kid that I met, when I was first researching, who was a rodeo star. He had just gotten his professional bull riding card. He was bucked in a pen in his second professional event, hit the railing and broke his neck. He had the same exact injury that Jason Street had. I spent time with him, five weeks into his recovery until the end of the season, and he was just an inspiration to me. All of those guys are.
MediaBlvd> What is it like to film in Texas, instead of Los Angeles, New York or Vancouver? What are the challenges, and what are the blessings that has afforded you?
Scott> This show is a genuine reflection of real life. It’s not so much escapist television, as so many other TV shows are. Allowing us to work in Austin, in a place that is outside of the hype machine of L.A. or New York, just allows us to bring more reality to our characters. We keep investing ourselves in the city, and in the state of Texas, and really see where everybody comes from. That allows us to have such a fervent fan base because that’s what everybody latches onto. This is real life. This isn’t a show that overplays all the drama. It’s a show based on real characters and a real town.
MediaBlvd> Do you think that the rest of the country is getting to learn about football fever through this show? Were you shocked by it when you first went to Texas?
Scott> I’m not shocked. I’m shocked that more people aren’t watching, but I don’t think that’s attributed to any one thing. A lot of people just make assumptions. It’s a fast food world. You take a glance at something, and you decide whether or not it’s for you. You read a book by its cover, and that’s what so many people do today. It’s a grassroots effort. Everybody that watches the show loves it, and they’re spreading the world. It’s not a show that’s only for people in rural areas. It’s a show for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re in a city, or in a rural area.
MediaBlvd> Can people from big cities relate to this show?
Scott> The relationships are as real as they get, on this show. It doesn’t matter if you’re from a city or a rural town. You have a mother, father, kids, wife or boyfriend. You play some type of sports, or go to some type of social activity. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. It happens, and we depict it in a very genuine way.
MediaBlvd> Where is Jason at, romantically?
Scott> Jason is free now. He’s still getting over Lyla, but I thought the writers did a great job of wrapping that up with a pretty little bow, saying that they realized why they could not be together any longer, and they broke up. It was very heartfelt, and they’re not going to get back together next week.
MediaBlvd> Would it be possible, in real life, for someone like your character to become a football coach?
Scott> He was just an intern last season, until he got his GED, which has happened now. He’s full-time on the payroll, and the new coach is definitely going to make some waves between Jason and his friends, whereas before it was more like buddies on the field. He wasn’t really having to be authoritative. This year, he is definitely going to have to choose whether he’s a coach, or whether he’s still a kid, and still these kids’ friend.
MediaBlvd> Your character became a coach, right after finishing high school. Is that common in small town football?
Scott> It is. And, it’s not just common in small town football. It’s common in pro-football. There were four high school coaches that came out of the draft class of 1997. They were in the NFL for 2, 3 or 4 years, and went back to the school they were from and started coaching. It’s an incredibly real storyline that happens, all the time.
MediaBlvd> So, a high school kid could be a coach?
Scott> As an intern, yeah. There are student athletes and there are student coaches, on both the high school and college level. There was a scene cut from last season that helped uncloud some things, but you can’t legally work at the school, if you’re not getting paid and you don’t have an education. His medical leave allowed him to not be there, and then he started pursuing his GED. Once he enrolled himself in GED courses, he could work anywhere he wanted to, whether it was in the school system or not. He was an unpaid intern until he got his GED. We explained it, but that scene happened to get cut last year.
MediaBlvd> How confining is it to be in the chair while you’re working?
Scott> It’s not. Everybody asks all the actors who play the football players, “How challenging is it, physically, to be a football player?” I’d say it’s a little more challenging, physically, to be in a chair because you’re taking components of your body away, and learning how to use other ones, extensively. It’s amazing. Once I get in the chair, I don’t like to get out of it because it just puts me in a mind-set for the rest of the day.
MediaBlvd> Do you think you’re an inspiration for people who are in wheelchairs, in real life?
Scott> I have a MySpace page and I get fan letters, and a great majority of the letters I get are from people who really have suffered a career-ending injury, or an injury that is paraplegic or quadriplegic in nature, and it’s a testament to the writing of the show, and the advisors that we have, that it’s the most realistic view of a quadriplegic’s life that there has been, for a very long time. I don’t know what to say when people come up to me and say, “Besides Marlon Brando in The Men, or Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot, or Tom Cruise in Born on the 4th of July, this is the most realistic interpretation that I’ve seen.” I don’t know what to say to those people, and I just take it as such a huge compliment for the show and the character.
MediaBlvd> Do you ever wonder what you would do, if you were in an accident like Jason Street?
Scott> I’ve asked myself that question, and you can’t answer it until you’re faced with it. I realized that I don’t know what I would until it actually happened to me. I hope I would handle it as well as Jason has because, in my research, I’ve seen so many people that have just spiraled out of control and, ultimately, their lives ended a lot earlier than they should have. The thing about Jason is that he’s really meant to be inspirational. It’s not Million Dollar Baby, where you’re putting somebody out of their misery. It’s a story where there’s something for you to live for. The most touching letter I ever got was from a kid out of Colorado who was a football player. He went rock climbing, fell down the face, his neck got caught in his rope, and it snapped it on the way down. He told me about it, in very brutal detail. That was tough, at first, and then, at the tail end of it, I was in tears because he told me, “My friends abandoned me, my girlfriend broke up with me, my parents are having so much trouble with everything, and to see you on TV and to know that there are things that I can do with my life, shows me that I should just really focus on the positive, and that I’m still here, and I still have am impact to make on people.” It was just amazing.
MediaBlvd> How good do you think Jason Street will be as a coach?
Scott> Jason was the best college prospect in America. He was the best quarterback in America. And, that was because he studied everything. He knew what everybody on that field was going to do, and that’s going to make him a great coach. He’s going to be able to apply all that knowledge. His work ethic and his knowledge of the game is just going to make him a fantastic coach. I think that’s why you’ll see him butting heads with the new coach, who is a three-time championship winner out of Tennessee, taking over Coach Taylor’s position. He’s a man of merit. And, Jason still knows enough to, figuratively, stand up in front of him and say, “This is what we have to do here. This isn’t going to work.” He starts butting heads with him and really becomes even more of a man. Jason is the first to move into adulthood, so I’m really interested in that story this year.
MediaBlvd> Your character gives you the ability to stay with the show beyond next year, when the others will graduate.
Scott> The great thing is that we’re breaking the myth that a character can leave Dillon and no longer be a part of the show. Coach Taylor goes to TMU and, yes he’s the main character, but they’re going to follow him, and you’re going to see characters over there. We roll 10 deep, as far as our main ensemble of 10, but then we have so many other great supporting characters. And, they keep coming up with fantastic ideas and new characters. I think it only helps to broaden the show’s appeal by taking people out of Dillon and putting them, maybe, at a major university. Maybe Smash will go to Los Angeles, or something along those lines. You never know what they’re going to do with this show, but if they do it, they’re going to do it in a very real way. I think that’s just going to give us more of an avenue for people to latch onto the show.
MediaBlvd> What does everybody do in Austin, when you’re not shooting?
Scott> There’s nothing that Austin doesn’t have. It’s got great live music and amazing food, and everything is outdoors. It’s an oasis in the middle of Texas. It’s not brown and flat. It’s green, it’s hilly and the weather is beautiful. It’s an amazing city, and we’re so glad to be there. There’s a downtown area you can go to. You can find great bands playing seven nights a week, at all different venues, in every style of music that you can imagine. There’s festivals that come through. As a cast, we usually just get a bite at a great restaurant. And, I go to the comic book shop, every week.
MediaBlvd> What shows do you watch, when you get the chance?
Scott> I’m a huge nerd. I’m a big geek. I watch Battlestar Galactica. I watch Heroes. I watched Prison Break for awhile. I don’t have tons of time to watch television, but I usually find myself watching shows that get canceled prematurely, like Deadwood, because they’re just so fantastic. I watched The Wire. Unless they’re purely sci-fi/fantasy in nature, or really genuinely grounded, I don’t find myself watching it. I won’t watch a lot of the soapy stuff.
MediaBlvd> Do you find yourself being torn between television and film? You’re devoted to the show, but what happens if a film comes along that you really want to do, that causes a conflict with the show?
Scott> First and foremost, I’m dedicated to Friday Night Lights. I’m so blessed for where they’ve put me, and for what they’ve done for me and my career. Jason Street is a character that I love with my soul. He’s amazing. We get to tell so many stories with him, that I would not get to tell in any other realm. I’m just blessed to be a part of the show, so the show comes first. I almost wasn’t going to do Speed Racer because I’m a part of the show, and if that would have happened, that would have been the way it was. My allegiance is always with Friday Night Lights.
MediaBlvd> Who are playing in Speed Racer?
Scott> I’m playing Rex Racer. He is Speed Racer’s older brother, and is really the inspiration for Speed to want to become the greatest racer in the world. He’s a record breaker and a trophy holder, and he’s the pride of the Racer family. The Wachowski brothers have done a great thing with this movie, by making it a nod towards how corporations in this world are corrupting pretty much everything that we have, and it really goes against the wholesome family type. Rex sees through that and embarks on a journey to end that, and he has to leave his family, in the process.
MediaBlvd> Speed Racer wasn’t your era. Did you have to research it?
Scott> Actually, Speed Racer has been on some channel, ever since I was a kid. I remember catching it, in bits and pieces, here and there. When Boomerang launched, which is the second Cartoon Network, they started showing it on there. But, they showed it non-sequentially, so I didn’t really know all of the mythos that goes into it. The Wachowski brothers are just amazing at condensing that all into a couple hours for a movie. They treat the character of Rex, whom I play, extremely well.
MediaBlvd> So, it’s not campy at all?
Scott> No. It’s got the same heart, the same soul and the same vision, just with a little more color.
MediaBlvd> Was there a stunt with Speed Racer that was just really fun?
Scott> I had never worked on green screen before, period. There’s an instrument called a gimble, which emulates a cockpit. It has a complete 360 degree axis that it can control. So, they stock the cockpit of my car on it, and then, I went through the racetrack. They had a video game designer come in and design the racetrack, they stuck me in a virtual car, I drove through the track, and then they replayed it back with the gimble reacting to it. That was pretty amazing. It was a difficult challenge, though, because I was working against nobody, and with nobody. Friday Night Lights is so character driven with a lot of improv, and it’s so reactionary, it was extremely difficult, at first, just learning how to act without anyone to bounce back from.
MediaBlvd> Have you ever seen the original Prom Night?
Scott> I have, actually, but it’s a completely different story. The supernatural elements is taken out of it. It’s a very real story about a teacher who has an illness, who ultimately becomes attracted to a student, and it becomes very dangerous, to the point that he’s locked up for it. It’s about the night that he’s released and tries to hunt her down again.
MediaBlvd> Who do you play in this version?
Scott> I play Brittany Snow’s boyfriend. After the tragedy that she encounters early on, he’s really the supportive, strong character for her.
MediaBlvd> What was working with Brittany Snow like?
Scott> She’s amazing. We’re friends. The actors who played the six friends of Brittany’s character hung out every week. We had cast chemistry building exercises, which was really just an excuse to go and hang out together. Brittany is awesome. She’s one of the better young actresses out there.
MediaBlvd> How has your life changed, since you’ve become involved with Friday Night Lights?
Scott> Fame can affect your life, if you let it. My life hasn’t really changed, aside from the fact that I get noticed in the Phoenix airport. That’s a weird thing. Every time I go to the Phoenix airport, somebody recognizes me. If you let fame affect you, then it will. But, if you just live your life according to how you want to live it, then it won’t affect you. You don’t go to every opening and you don’t go on every red carpet and you don’t sell yourself out.
MediaBlvd> How do you think you’ll feel after Speed Racer and Prom Night put you out there even more? Will that change things for you?
Scott> I hope it does. I hope a by-product of that is that more people watch Friday Night Lights because of it. I’m here because of this television show, and there is a lot more depth to Jason Street than there is in a lot of the characters that I would be able to play in film. If it does get my face out there a little bit more, I just hope it brings attention to the show. I just love what I’m doing. I have the best job in the world.
MediaBlvd> As an actor, is there a genre that you’d like to tackle that you haven’t gotten to yet?
Scott> I’m really a nerd at heart, and Speed Racer filled that gap for me. But, I think Music and Lyrics was one of the best things that could happen to me because I came from musical comedy, before I did this show. Everybody says, “Oh, he’s a dramatic actor,” and I want to break that stereotype and make sure I’m not stuck in a niche, where all I do is serious, heartbreaking roles, from now on. I wouldn’t say romantic comedy is my next step. I’d love to do a war movie, at some point. That’s every boy’s dream. I’m doing a sports show, and next is the war movie. And then, hopefully, a comic book movie. But, I would love to do something with a little more comedy.
