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Press Archive: Promo Images & Gambit News

Posted by Hider on 2009-01-18 11:41:43 PST

I've added a bunch of high quality promotional images to the gallery, most of them are from the first season of Friday Night Lights but there also some from Scott's roles in Prom Night and Music & Lyrics.

• 012 HQ promo images from FNL's Season One (Cast)
• 004 HQ promo images from FNL's Season One (Solo)
• 003 HQ promo images from Prom Night
• 001 HQ promo image from Music & Lyrics

On a random note, Taylor Kitsch did an interview with USA Weekend to promote Friday Night Lights on NBC and also the upcoming Wolverine: Origins movie. He had some nice stuff to say about Scott so I've posted the relevant part below. Who else thinks it's funny that they both went up for the role of Gambit?

In Canada, did you play hockey in high school instead of football?
Yep, hockey 20 years. I played at a really competitive level and I still play a couple times a week — I’m actually even in a men’s league in Austin. I don’t think NBC really knows that but that’s OK. Even Porter, when he’s in Austin, we’ll get an intense flag football game going.

I saw that Scott’s a really big comic book fan. Was he pretty envious when you got the role of Gambit in Wolverine?
I know he read for it. He’s always been like, “Kitsch, you’re so perfect for Gambit.” Ironically enough, he texted me last night after he saw the trailer and he just congratulated me. He’s more pumped than me to see it. He’s a [freakin’] huge fan, man. He’s part of that group: He goes to the comic cons and I live vicariously through him in all that. When I went and read for it, I talked to him about the character and my ears were bleeding because he can go on for hours about any comic book guy. The biggest thing for me is doing this justice. Being with Hugh and everything else, it’s not called Gambit: Origins. I want to come into Wolverine and contribute to Jackman’s movie the best I can and I feel I’ve done everything I could possible to bring this guy to life.

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Press Archive: 'Speed Racer' star Scott Porter: Geek?

Posted by Hider on 2008-05-09 18:39:24 PDT

Jeff Salamon @ Austin 360 :: May 09, 2008

Speed Racer claims plenty of accomplished actors — John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci, for starters. But only one calls Austin home.

That would be Scott Porter, probably best known for playing Jason Street, the high-school quarterback who was paralyzed in the first episode of Friday Night Lights. Porter, who was recently seen in Prom Night and just finished filming the Austin-shot Lisa Kudrow movie Will, is a savvy choice to play Speed Racer's older brother Rex — not only is he a fine actor, he's a self-described comic-book and science-fiction geek who grew up watching Speed Racer on television.

We spoke to Porter last week by phone. Later that evening, he was heading off to an advance screening of "Iron Man," which he was very excited about.

Austin American-Statesman: You're a star of one of the most realistic shows on TV, but this movie is based on a cartoon series. As an actor, what's the difference between doing a Friday Night Lights and doing a Speed Racer?

Scott Porter: It's a huge difference. You're talking about a television show that we shoot episodes in five days with three handheld cameras, there's no rehearsal, no marks, and we just get off the page and play. But then you talk about a movie that has a $100 million budget, that has two of the most focused directors in the business, it's almost completely green screen, and everything has to be so particular and so perfect in execution. So on Friday Night Lights we're as sloppy and messy and dirty as you can get, and I love it. ... (On the other hand,) if you're going to stay in this business you're going to have learn how to act on green screen; you're going to have to learn how to act in these huge effects movies. So I'm just really blessed that I got a chance this early in my career to get acclimated to it.

You're known as a pretty big comics fan. Speed Racer, obviously, is rooted in manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation) culture. Have you read much manga?

I haven't read a ton of manga. I read some when I was living in Japan. (From 2003-2004 Porter was a singer at Tokyo Disneyland.) And I've read Eyeshield 21, which was recommended by my friend Masi Oka from Heroes, so I've picked up some manga. But I'm so used to the way that they tell stories in American comic books that I never really made the jump.

The Wachowski brothers are pretty big comic book guys themselves. Did you bond with them on the set over comics?

I did; I bonded with them over comics and science fiction and films and video games. They're big fanboys, just as much as anybody else. They're just lucky that they get to control the world that they used to play in.

I don't know if it was a bigger draw for me to do "Speed Racer" or work with the Wachowskis. I would almost lean toward saying working with the Wachowskis was the bigger dream because growing up on American comics, it's kind of like — "X-Men! Avengers! I wanna play Hawkeye! I wanna play Captain America! I wanna play Flash!" Those are the heroes I've always wanted to play. So Speed Racer came second to working with the Wachowski brothers.

Ten years ago, being a comic book fan in Hollywood probably would have had you pegged as a geek. But with all the superhero franchises these days, and writers like Brian K. Vaughan, Damon Lindelof and Joss Whedon crossing back and forth between the two media, that isn't the case anymore. Do you feel lucky that you've broken through at a time like this?

The weird thing is now that it's becoming popular there's this huge backlash and everybody's really testing each other to see if you're a true geek or a true nerd. I passed the test — the Wachowskis kind of ribbed me for a little bit. I don't know if it's because of the fact that I played football in high school or the characters I play or the way I look, but a lot of people tend to not believe that I'm as into it as I am.

But this is just a great time. I think society is kind of changing the way they look at us, which is nice.

Did Matthew Fox divulge any secrets about what's going to happen on Lost>?

He can't. It's tough being in my position because my good friend Masi on Heroes, all he can say is, "I'm a cast regular." It's mandated by NBC; that's all he's allowed to say about the upcoming season. Between him and Matt Fox I'm just going crazy: I wanna know, I wanna know. If I knew somebody who worked on Battlestar Galactica, then I'd be in trouble.

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Press Archive: Exclusive Interview: 'Friday Night Lights' Star Scott Porter

Posted by Hider on 2007-11-02 18:46:25 PDT

Debbie Chang @ BuddyTV :: November 02, 2007

Hey everyone this is Debbie at BuddyTV and I'm talking to Scott Porter who stars on Friday Night Lights. Hey Scott.

Good mornin', how are you?

Good! How are you?

I'm doing fine. I'm doing' well.

So first, why don't you start by describing your character?

Jason Street was the local town hero. He was a good quarterback. A good student. He came from a great family. He was gonna go to college at Notre Dame and eventually become pro. Then tragedy struck at the end of the pilot of the first season and be broke his neck and is now in a wheel chair. During the first season, he kind of deals with everybody else coming to grips with his injury before he deals with it himself. He's a strong, strong kid. He's put through more trials than any kid that I know and he always comes out with his head up high. At the end of last season he went back to the team as a coach and the first three episodes of the season you kind of see that deteriorate, and he starts to really deal with the issue of whether or not he wants to walk again, and if it's even possible.

Right. He's going through a lot of really big stuff like last episode he decided to go to Mexico ...

He heard about this stem-cell research. You know, there are these surgeries that happen where they actually inject stem-cells of other animals or human embryo into your back to hopefully get it to re-attach to your spine and heal you. And he kind of sees that as maybe a pipe dream. Maybe something that's a possibility. So he decides to quit the team and go off on this trip. And Riggins, his loyal and irresponsible friend Riggins, decides that he wants to come along for the ride and Jason can't really say no to him, so.

Do you identify with your character?

I do. In different ways than I think people would expect. First of all, you don't see Jason's parents as much as I would like you to. That being said, he did come from a very strong family and so did I. I have an amazing family. And to come from there and to kind of have that background really played into who Jason was. I'd like to say that I'm as strong-willed as Jason, but he's been through so much ... he's definitely head-and-shoulders above me in that department. You know, there are some things that I definitely do identify with, with Jason about.

Is there any chance that Jason and Lyla Garrity are going to get back together? Or will there be a new love interest?

You know, with Jason and Lyla's relationship I think they have a love for each other that extends beyond just a relationship. I think they have a really true affection for each other and right now it's just a friendship and they've been able to go through everything that they go through and still remain close. I don't know if we'll see them back together. You know, there's always that opportunity. They're always going to be there for each other. But you will see Jason kind of moving on later in the season.

What do you like most about being on the show? I mean, apart from the fact that it's awesome.

Wow. I love filming in Austin, Texas. I love the cast that we have. I love the show. I love that fact that I think we're one of the most honest shows on television. In order to tell a story in such extremely genuine fashion like we do, you have to have everybody on board and everybody believing with everyone having the same common goal. We have that here and I couldn't be more blessed. I don't think anyone of us could be. So, yeah. I think that's it.

This season is a little bit different than the first because it is a little bit more dramatic. And you know, the Lyra ... Landry and Tyra murder storyline is kind of intense. Do you think that everyone in the cast, including yourself ... do you still believe that it's real and genuine?

Did you just call them “Lyra,” by the way?

No. That was an accident. Haha.

That's actually kind of funny. That'd be a funny nickname. Anyway, you know ... it is a very melodramatic storyline. But when you sit back and you watch the actors ... when you watch Adrianne [Palicki] and you watch Jesse [Plemons] put themselves through it, you can say: ‘If this really happened, how would they react?' And you know, I think there are a couple of storylines that are a little bit more over-the-top this year and, you know, it's a by-product of being on television for more than one season. It starts to happen every now and then, you know? But it's how you handle it and from my viewpoint. The two of them, who weren't really featured last year, are doing just amazing work with the storyline and just bringing it to life a realistic way as far as the acting goes. Whether or not the writing is as concrete as last year, you know ... notwithstanding it's just directed really well and acted really well.

Cool. What's it like behind-the-scenes on set? Do you all hang out? What's going on there?

We all live in Austin, Texas, and it's kind of great to be out of the whole Hollywood machine. It gives us an opportunity to actually really be friends. I hang out with just about everybody on the show. I can tell you that within the last two weeks, I've gone out to dinner with Annie [Adrianne Palicki] and Connie [Britton]. I go play football with Taylor [Kitsch] and Jesse. I live with Zach Gilford. The guys and I go to church together sometimes. Everybody gets along really, really well and everybody hangs out. We're really blessed to be down here. Austin has so much to offer. It doesn't matter if you're wanting to get out during the day and get outside. It doesn't matter if you're wanting to go out at night. There's everything in the world to do down here. So it's definitely refreshing to be in a place like Austin.

That's great. You've done some work in theater and also in film and, obviously, television. What do you like doing the most?

You know, I'm very happy where I am right now. I'm not going to say it's my favorite thing of all time, but I will say I'm extremely happy to be where I am right now. I don't think that theater will every completely leave me. I think I'll always want to go back and I think eventually I will when the right project comes along. There's just something very special about being on stage and having that connection with an audience. That being said, I'm having a blast in television and film so, I don't discriminate. Haha. It's all about the performance and you can perform in any kind of venue.

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