Matt Lauria Recalls Auditioning for ‘Friday Night Lights’ During the ATX Television Festival [Video]

While at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, TX last week, we caught up with Matt Lauria on the opening night red carpet to discuss the festival, his most memorable audition story, and more.

Lauria serves as one of the ambassadors for the festival, which just wrapped its seventh year.

“I just love how the festival has been expanding in the last couple of years. It’s extraordinary the place that they kind of sit within the business now,” he said. “There’s so many exciting projects here. So many exciting people.”

When asked if there was an audition that stands out for him as the most memorable, Lauria described what it was like to audition for Friday Night Lights.

“I was just a gigantic fan of Friday Night Lights, and then when I got an audition and I couldn’t even believe that I had an audition for it, and I came in and my callback was with Pete Berg, and he was watching the audition and he kind of comes up and starts making me improvise and kind of gets in my face, and is like just super close to me. And he’s like, ‘you an athlete?!'” he laughed.

“Then when I did the next callback, Kitsch was the room. Taylor Kitsch. So when I did the callback, it was a little like, surreal,” he remembered.

“Again lots of improv. Lots of playing around. It was exciting.”

Watch the full interview with Matt Lauria here:

Photos from the opening night red carpet:

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*Additional reporting by Caralynn Lippo.

Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here. There is a lot more to come!

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