ShareThisBy TERRY MORROW
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Jesse Plemons spent years leaving Texas to look for work in television, only to find his big break was in his backyard.
As class clown Landry Clarke in the new drama "Friday Night Lights" (8 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC), Plemons is back in his native Texas, speaking in his natural accent and often finding himself on a football field.
Those were three things he thought he'd be giving up to have an acting career. "Now, I need my accent for this role," he says.
Originally from the Waco, Texas, area, Plemons' first acting gig came at age 3 when he landed a commercial. Then, at age 10, he got two lines in the movie "Varsity Blues."
He liked acting so much that he decided to focus on it seriously. With the help of his family, he was 15 when he started going back and forth between Los Angeles and Texas.
Half the year, he'd be in Texas, attending public school. The other half he'd be in Los Angeles and auditioning for small roles on "NCIS," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Grey's Anatomy."
However, he's found casting agents don't cotton to accents. "I worked hard to get rid of it," he says.
Going to Hollywood and trying to live the dream wasn't easy, he says.
"I'd be gone from my friends (in Texas) half the time, and then when I came back I would have to jump right back into (a more normal) life," Plemons says.
He finds it amusing now that he's back in Texas, where he's nabbed his career's biggest break. And it's in a football drama, no less.
"I played football up until I was a sophomore," he says. "I was quarterback in my seventh- and eighth-grade teams. I loved it."
Plemons plays one of the few guys on the series who isn't on the Dillon Panthers football team. Nonetheless, he's the best friend of the quarterback.
"He's one of those guys who is confident in himself and a lot of fun," Plemons says. "Everybody's got insecurities in high school, but he kind of rolls with it."
"Lights" is Plemons' first series regular role. He loved the movie that inspired the series, though he wasn't quite sure how the series creators would make it work.
"Even I was amazed at how well this (series) turned out," he says. "I saw the movie and loved it. I didn't know how they'd be able to turn it into a good series. I didn't know how they could not redo (the movie altogether) but still (manage) the same expectations of the (film)."
"Lights" is more than just football. Though the local high school game is the focus in the small town of Dillon, Texas, the series is about life in a small town. Hometown pride is all tied up in the battle on the field.
"I definitely see the possibilities of where the characters can grow," Plemons says. "... People around the country are going to see what life is really like in a small town."
