Matt Lauria, ATX Television Festival Interview with Matt Lauria [Video] | Tell-Tale TV

Matt Lauria Talks ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Friday Night Lights’ [Video]

Ashley Bissette Sumerel ATX Television Festival, Friday Night Lights, Interviews

Friday Night Lights fans had plenty to look forward to at this year’s ATX Television Festival, with several of the show’s stars coming out for a special tailgate party and screening of the show in honor of the show’s tenth anniversary.

We caught up with cast member and ATX festival ambassador Matt Lauria on the red carpet the night before the tailgate to chat about Kingdom and Friday Night Lights.

Lauria currently stars as Ryan Wheeler on Kingdom. When asked what makes that show special, his answer was simple.

“I think it’s Byron Balasco. I think it’s Byron’s writing,” Lauria said.

“It was the right project at the right time for everybody involved. Byron has crafted this brilliant world, and these brilliant characters who are detailed, and complicated, and entirely dissimilar from one another.”

Related  Katherine LaNasa Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of 'The Pitt'

Lauria also spoke about how his work on Friday Night Lights was an important learning experience.

“Friday Night Lights was just such a critical place in my personal life and my career, and it was certainly just such a life-changing opportunity,” he said.

“It was a gift that will never stop giving.”

You can check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here. (There is a lot more to come!)

Additional reporting by Christine Laskodi.

Nick Wechsler Says the ATX Television Festival is a ‘Beautiful Family’ [Video]

Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.