Bromance on and off the field! Zach Gilford and Jesse Plemons are still just as close as their Friday Night Lights characters Matt Saracen and Landry Clarke.
“Jesse, who is still one of my best friends, was 17 years old when we started that show and now he’s a man. It’s kind of crazy, but in the same respect if you think about it it seems like it was just yesterday that we were in Texas filming that show,” Gilford, 35, exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“In real life he is one of my closest friends, which makes me sound like a loser that I was 23 and my best friend was a 17-year-old, but oh well,” he adds, laughing. “But he’s an old soul.”
They may not hit up the Alamo Freeze together anymore, but they have played important roles in each other’s personal lives. Back in 2013, Plemons, 29, actually performed at Gilford and Kiele Sanchez’s California wedding.
“He played guitar and sang when my wife walked down the aisle. It was amazing. We had this song that was special between her and I and I texted him and was like, ‘Hey, do you think you can do a version of it?’ And he was like, ‘I’m honored,’” Gilford recalls. “Kiele and I were actually looking at wedding venues in San Francisco when we listened to his voicemail and we both just started crying because it was so beautiful. His soul is a very special one.”
And to note: It’s probably safe to say that the music sounded nothing like Landry’s Christian rock band Crucifictorious.
Gilford will next stand by Plemons’ side as he marries Kirsten Dunst. Us Weekly confirmed in January that the couple are engaged after meeting during season 2 of FX’s Fargo. “I don’t know if I’ll be in his wedding party, I don’t know if they are having a wedding party, but I’ll definitely be at his wedding,” Gilford tells Us. “I’ve met his fiancée and it’s one of those couples that you feel like they are the best versions of themselves when they are around each other. I feel like a big brother to him.”
The longtime pals have come a long way since the Dillon Panthers — and since taping their opening credits scene outside Grandma Saracen’s (Louanne Stephens) home.
“One of my favorite scenes is from the pilot where I’m throwing footballs through a tire,” Gilford says of Matt and Landry. “I don’t even know what we were talking about but it was such a cool, iconic scene to me because it was the beginning of their journey.”
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