Scott Porter says 'Friday Night Lights' reunion felt like coming home

Scott Porter is reflecting on the enduring bond between the cast of Friday Night Lights, saying their recent reunion felt less like a gathering after years apart and more like “coming home.”

Speaking with People at MPTF’s 2026 NextGen Summer Party on May 31, the 46-year-old actor opened up about reuniting with his former castmates at the Austin Television Festival ahead of the show’s 20th anniversary.

“The 20th reunion for Friday Night Lights was just full of elation. It was home. People say, ‘You can’t go home,’ but we felt like we did,” Porter said.

The cast reunited in Austin on May 29, where Porter said they spent time together revisiting familiar places, sharing meals, and walking through streets tied to the early days of their careers.

“It was just incredible to look back. Understand that 20 years ago, we did something that I think people feel is pretty special now and has become a legacy show where generations are now handing it down their family line,” he said.

Porter added that the continued cultural impact of the NBC drama has been especially meaningful to the cast, noting how fans across generations continue to discover the series.

“I see so many kids that say, ‘Hey, I just watched this show. My dad told me I had to. And we had the best time of our life,’” he said.

“And the fact that family connections happen because of this show, it's deeper than anything I've ever done on screen. And that family will always be that for me, my family.”

The actor, who portrayed Jason Street on the series, starred alongside Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Michael B. Jordan, Jesse Plemons, Taylor Kitsch, Minka Kelly, Zach Gilford, Gaius Charles and Aimee Teegarden.

Friday Night Lights premiered in October 2006 and ran for five seasons until 2011.

The series was adapted from H.G. Bissinger’s nonfiction book about the 1988 Permian High School football team in Odessa, Texas, and later inspired by the 2004 feature film directed by Peter Berg.

Porter said the cast’s connection has endured well beyond the show’s original run, noting that many of them still stay in touch and frequently cross paths through ongoing projects.

“It’s not even having to snap right back into who we used to be because we still talk all the time,” he said.

“We’ve kept in touch, and we do fall right back in lockstep when we get back together. It’s really cool.”