Q & Andy: Zach Gilford
ABOVE: ZACH GILFORD AND KIELE SANCHEZ AT THE SAVANNAH FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY SCAD.
It’s no mean feat to be a Friday Night Lights fan-favorite. Peter Berg’s television drama, which ran from 2006 to 2011, had a lot of good characters, and a lot of good actors: there was the surly Tim Riggins, played by True Detective Season Two’s newest cast member Taylor Kitsch; the endearing Landry (Breaking Bad scene-stealer Jesse Plemmons); the reluctant quarterback Vince (Michael B. Jordan), and, of course, Connie Britton’s Tammy Taylor. But, at the heart of the show, was Zach Gilford’s Matt Saracen, who goes from a forgotten second string benchwarmer to a star quarterback to a visual artist. Since the show wrapped three years ago, Gilford, who graduated from Northwestern in Chicago, has been keeping busy with films such as the summer horror flick The Purge: Anarchy. He also got married.
ANDY WARHOL: Where were you born?
ZACH GILFORD: Chicago, Illinois.
ANDY WARHOL: What did you have for breakfast?
GILFORD: Nothing yet. I’m starving.
WARHOL: How were you discovered?
GILFORD: I got signed by an agent and a manager from a showcase I did in NYC my senior year of college.
WARHOL: What was your first job?
GILFORD: My first job was bagging tulip bulbs as gift bags for a realty company.
WARHOL: What do you think about love?
GILFORD: I’m a big fan of love. It makes every day better.
WARHOL: Do you dream?
GILFORD: I dream almost every night.
WARHOL: Have you had any nutty fans scare you?
GILFORD: I am an extremely jumpy person and am often spacing out, so I get really startled when people reach out and touch me. The worst place this ever happened was when someone reached over from the upward bound escalator to the downward one I was on.
WARHOL: Who was the nicest person you worked for? (What did they do that was nice?)
GILFORD: The nicest person I worked for was Scott Von Eschen. He didn’t fire me.
WARHOL: When do you get nervous?
GILFORD: I get nervous when I watch reality TV. I don’t understand why people think they can get away with cheating on their spouse when there are cameras following them around.
WARHOL: Do you feel frustrated with the way things are now between men and women?
GILFORD: I’m frustrated by the lack of equality between men and women.
