'Friday Night Lights'' Zach Gilford Shares His Strong Feelings on Saracen & Julie
There's nothing quite like the disappointment one feels when talking to a TV actor who, clearly, couldn't care less about their character. It happens fairly often. The best is when they give you this great line: I trust the writers, I'm okay with whatever they decide to do.
Well, yes, I'm quite sure Zach Gilford (pictured left) trusts the writers of Friday Night Lights too -- seeing as how they're, um, amazing (Landry murder plot, aside) -- but that doesn't preclude him from having an opinion on what Matt Saracen's weekly fate should be. I spoke with Zach about what's ahead for Saracen and his first season love, Julie Taylor. Here's what he had to say...
Saracen and Julie are the reason so many fans fell in love with Friday Night Lights two years ago. We were sad when then they broke up. Any chance of a reconciliation?
(Laughs) Saracen and Julie. She took me for granted! I mean, I think we're going to work our way back towards that, but we're probably going to see it develop slowly. We'll reconnect more as friends, and eventually, [the romance] will come back up. That's the impression I get. I really just had a 30-minute conversation with [executive producer] Jason [Katims] over the phone a month ago and he was like, here's kind of what we're thinking of doing on the show this year, and I was like, what? huh? He said, it's okay, you'll see the scripts.
Do you offer any input? Does he care what you guys think?
I don't know. But before season two, I told him, me and Julie need to break up, and I think Saracen should get with a minority. Both those things ended up happening. It wasn't exactly the way I envisioned it happening, but I like to think I planted those seeds.
Do you root for Julie (Aimee Teegarden, pictured right) and Matt at all?
No, I root against them! She treats me like crap! I don't know why everybody liked us together. She was never nice to me.
In the beginning!
No, oh no, come on! Nine episodes to get her to go on a date with me? That was ridiculous! And then she's just like, let's have sex!
That's probably why we rooted for them, because he wanted to be with her.
Yeah, but I don't know why he wanted to be with her! She was never nice to him. She was mean and cold. Sorry, maybe this is bad to say. But this is me, as a fan. As a fan watching the show, I'm like, why does he like her?!
What if she begs for him back?
Well, he clearly is in love her.
Who did you like him with best?
His grandmother. And Landry.
Can't argue with that.
That was my biggest disappointment last year, that me and Landry didn't have [many scenes] together.
Ours, too.
Oh, thank you. Yeah, Jesse [Plemons] (pictured left), he's the best. He's awesome.
But Jason just said there's going to be a lot more Landry-Saracen stuff this year.
Really? What else did you hear? 'Cause I got nothin'!
That's pretty much the gist of it.
Well, thanks for the information. It's good to know.
I love Matt Saracen, he is such a sweet guy......the scene in the bath tub last year when he felt abandoned was so heartbreaking......I was hoping he would get an emmy nomination....
I do love Matt and Julie and hope to see them back together this season.
That said, this interview cement my love for Zach Gilford. "His grandmother. And Landry." That says it all. Although, the episode with Riggins wasn't bad either.
Riggs or Saracen, I CANNOT DECIDE!!! I love them both. Saracen even more after reading this.
haha, i'll always root for matt and julie.
It's cool when an actor is so into his role. I don't blame him for the Julie-hate. I just missed him bonding with Coach. I loved the tub scene, too. Him suggesting a minority girlfriend was strange at first, but now I'm trying to remember if it was Matt or Riggins that flirted with Smash's little sister. Whoever it was, I remember thinking it was cute (it was probably Riggs though).
jbj, I got the impression reading the story that that was sarcasm regarding his suggestions. I could be wrong.
Now that you mention it, I can see sense some sarcasm. He's so dry and Julie WAS a total **** last season! I liked him with Carlotta, even if they were an inappropriate couple. I guess it was Riggins that I was thinking of hooking up with Smash's sister. Well, that'll never happen.
Who can forget Coach coming in to find Saracen and Julie on the couch watching tv: "They had a blanket!" Matt and Julie are FNL. And my favorite part of the show.
Ah, he needs to get over it. Julie is a young teenager who has some hormonal problems that all of us girls go through at that age. Give her a break, people are way too hard on that girl. She realized after the breakup how great of a guy he is, now it's too late and she knows it, I think that is enough torcher.
he wasn't being sarcastic! i can see how you might think that though :)