As he films an arc of episodes for the show's fifth (and presumed-to-be final) season, Gilford rang Movieline to talk about filming the tough episode, the things we didn't see, and what the FNL series finale will (and won't) have in common with the final episode of lost.
Hey Zach. Are you in Austin right now?
I was there yesterday, but now I'm on my way to Belize to do this fishing thing for Outdoor Network. I'm pretty excited to do that, but I stopped in Florida a little bit on my way. I just want to ease into the heat of Belize. [Laughs] I started in Cali, then I went to Texas, which was brutal -- I'm not used to working in that heat anymore. Now I'll check out the oil spill, and then I'll go down to Belize.
What is it like to keep coming back to Austin for the show, but you're not exactly a regular anymore? Is it a different vibe?
No, not at all -- that's one of the nicest things. I flew in and Monica, one of our transpo people who's been with us since the pilot, was there to pick me up. She always decorates her van, she always has gum in one cupholder and chocolates in another. She gave me a big hug, and it was still the same. On set, we still have about 90% of the crew, so really the only weird part for me is those first ten minutes when you walk on set and you hug everyone and say hello.
And then it's right back to where you left off?
All my stuff was with Aimee Teegarden, who I've always had tons of stuff with, so it was just a regular day. We shot ten pages in ten hours. It was just really fun. Our crew's pretty verbal about who they like and who they don't like -- not that there's anybody they don't like -- but they're like, "It's so nice to have Zach. It feels like the show again." We played the same characters for three or four years and then a lot of us left and new people kind of showed up, and they're all good people but it's like all of a sudden, the show kind of changed. It really changed more for the crew than for any of the actors.
So you're doing four episodes in the final season?
I've done two episodes now, and I go back in three weeks to do two more.
And will one of those episodes be the actual series finale?
Yeah, it is. Coming back for this season, I was happy they asked me, but before we committed to it, I actually talked to [creator] Jason Katims about what they'd have me do. I had such a good exit, I felt, and I didn't want to come back in some way where it's just like, "Hey, let's get the old band back together," you know? But when I talked to them about the arc they wanted to do, I was really excited about it. Since I like the story, it's really cool to be a part of the end of it.
What kind of material are they giving you for the last season?
I think I play a good role in the conclusion of things. In season four, Saracen's having a hard time -- he's deciding to stay in town because of his grandma and Julie. He's always had this bond with Julie almost like he doesn't have with anyone else. She's the one who says, "You need to leave, your life needs to be somewhere else for a while" -- she gets it before he even gets it. Now, in the fifth season, she's going through a lot of hard stuff and he can be that influence in her life that gets her back on the right path. He's able to reciprocate.
I was reading your interview with Entertainment Weekly where you talked about how you loved the Lost finale. What did you get from that that you hope to get from this?
I don't think it's going to be a big "blow things up" finale. Someone was asking me the other day, "Are there going to be any big twists or cliffhangers?" Well, this isn't Lost -- there's not going to be a big smoke monster that shows up. The thing I loved about the Lost finale is that all those crazy mysteries about the smoke monster or the polar bear, there was no way to answer every question that anyone ever had, but ultimately what the show had become over six years was about these characters and their relationships with each other. I thought the finale did a great job concluding that and bringing closure to all those relationships, and that's why I kind of loved it.
In our finale, it's going to be the same thing. It's going to close chapters in these people's relationships, but at the same time, Saracen's 20 years old. Julie's 19. Everyone's still young, so it's not like there's going to be some big closure where it's like, "That's what will happen for the rest of that person's life." The other thing is that I only really know my storyline -- I haven't seen the other scripts, so I don't really know what's going on for everybody else.
What is that like? When you come in and do a few episodes of a season, are you like, "Wait, what have you guys been doing with Riggins?"
[Laughs] Yeah, a little bit. It's another way I like to liken ourselves to Lost -- they get their scenes sometimes and don't get to read everything else. As much as I love the show, I watch it as a fan and I've continued to after I left. So I come on and I know what's going on with me, but I don't want to read the other stuff because I want to watch it and see it as a fan. I don't want the surprise ruined for me.
So what is it like to watch yourself in an episode like the big one you just had?
I don't know how to explain it. It was emotional shooting it, and I don't even know why, to be honest. Some of those things just struck [a chord] with me, I guess. Then when it aired, I watched it with my girlfriend and my roommate, and I thought it turned out great. I am my own worst critic, so I definitely was like, "Oh man, I could have done that better," or "I wish they'd used that other take," but it was definitely the best script we ever had. The writer did a phenomenal job, and it looked like a movie script.
How so?
Very rarely do our writers put in songs that they want to be playing at a certain point, but he had done that. At the actual funeral, he had wrote that he wanted to have this Bon Iver song, so that's what was playing in my head the whole time I was there and it was the most perfect song ever, but in post-production, it turned out that the singer had gotten mad with the way things worked out with his song on the Twilight soundtrack, so now he won't put anything in movies or TV shows anymore. We couldn't get the rights to it, so I was watching the episode like, "Wait! Where's the Bon Iver song?" [Laughs] It's weird when you've shot something, because you can't just sit there and be an audience member. You've seen every single aspect of it, and you know these people not as just their characters but as actual people.
Part of why this episode worked so well as a viewer is because we've known Matt for so many years before this happened, so the moment plays stronger. I wonder what it's like to act such heavy scenes opposite actors that you've worked with for so many years, but maybe never played this kind of material with before?
I think it actually makes it so much easier -- you feel really safe. Like I was saying, it's hard when you watch the show to not think of them as real people, but at the same time, when you're actually doing those scenes, it's easier to think of them as those characters. I'll never forget this weird experience when I was giving the speech at [Saracen's] father's funeral, and I looked out over the crowd and it was all the cast, all the people I've worked with for so long. It just struck a chord. I don't even know! Those relationships that we have with each other are so established that it's just second nature now. Anytime I have to do anything with Aimee or Jesse [Plemons] or Taylor [Kitsch], I don't even have to think about it -- it just happens. It helps that we all get along really well. It's not a set where everyone hates each other; we're all genuine friends.
And of course, there's the Facebook campaign. There are people who would measure the success of this show through the Emmys, or through the ratings. How do you measure the success of your performance? When are you satisfied?
None of that matters. It really comes down to when I sit down and watch it and I'm like, "Yeah, I'm proud of that," or "Ah, I screwed that up." I'm really just going for the experience I have when a) I'm actually doing it and b) when I sit down and see the finished product. It can be manipulated so much by that time, for better or for worse, but I've found on Friday Night Lights, it's usually for the better. All that other stuff is so out of your control, and I think I've learned that the most with this show. As much as people love it and hype it up, we can't get people to turn it on. There's nothing you can do to make someone watch something. All you can hope is that people enjoy it.
Is it gratifying, though, to hear that there's this groundswell for your performance?
It's super-flattering and nice. I'm so thankful for everything everyone said. It's also cool to be a part of something that sparked more energy back to the show again. The first season, everyone wrote and talked about our show, but no one really turned it on, so I think I reached the point where I was like, "Well, no one's listening to me, so I guess I'll just keep it to myself." And now an episode came up that's making everyone really excited again. They feel like they need to tell people to watch this. It's exciting.