Kyle Chandler Plays a Coach on TV…But His Dogs are the Real “Home Team
Raising dogs is part of Kyle Chandler’s legacy.“I was born into it,” says the star of NBC’s critically lauded series
Friday Night Lights
.
Kyle’s parents, who bred and showed Great Danes and were also involved in rescue whilehe was growing up, passed their love and passion for dogs on to their talented son, whocarries on the family tradition to this day…albeit somewhat differently.When he’s not on location in Austin playing Eric Taylor, a small town Texas high schoolfootball coach tackling family issues and job pressures; Kyle lives in LA with hisscreenwriter wife Katherine, their two daughters; ages 5 and 11, and a brood of canines thatare as different as night and day: a rescued pug; a Jack Russell terrier that a neighbor withallergies was forced to give up; and a Rhodesian Ridgeback.
According to Kyle, each is known for something: “Scout” the pug has a penchant for urinating in inappropriate places; “Miss Wiggles” the Jack Russell (whose real name isOlive, but was re-named for her tail that shakes back and forth “violently”) is neurotic for tennis balls, and the Rhodesian Ridgeback “Mr. Hobson” (named for Kyle’s character “Gary Hobson” on
Early Edition
) “does nothing.”And of course, each pooch has his or her own story. Kyle remembers the day he got theJack Russell, or as he puts it, the day his wife “informed him” she was bringing her home.The new dog started to run around with their Rhodesian Ridgeback, who accidentallyended up breaking her leg. “She was a $900 dog by the time I got home from the vet,” Kylerecalls.He relays another story about the time he told a joke to some houseguests who busted outlaughing before he even got to the punch line. Unbeknownst to him, Scout the pug markedhis territory on his white tennis shoes. “I love the dog to death, but he pees a lot,” saysKyle, which leads him to wonder who had the dog before him. “It must have been a womanwith a white living room,” he’s convinced. No stranger to TV, Kyle has been a familiar face since the early ‘90s, from his leadingroles on the series
Homefront
as
injured Cleveland Indians outfielder Jeff Metcalf and
Early Edition
as Gary Hobson, a stockbroker turned hero
, who had the ability to changethe course of the future, to last year’s Emmy-nominated guest appearance on
Grey’s Anatomy
.
He’s also racked up impressive screen credits, including his recent portrayal of the 1930s B-movie actor Bruce Baxter in the 2005 remake of
King Kong
.From his laid-back, unassuming air, you wouldn’t know Kyle made the 2006 cut for
People
Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive”- and you wonder if he even knows it. The truth is:you’d be hard pressed to find traces of Hollywood in Kyle Chandler. He could easily beyour next-door neighbor, or someone you know from the PTA - who just happens to be agreat actor.Born in Buffalo, New York and transplanted to Georgia at age 11, Kyle was raised outsideof Atlanta in the small town of Loganville, where he shared a 22-acre farm with his parents, three older siblings, horses, cows, pigs, chickens and Great Danes.“My parents joked that when they got married their first piece of furniture was a GreatDane,” Kyle says. And it was their fondness for the dog that evolved into breeding GreatDanes as a full time hobby. According to Kyle, they normally had 6 or 7 adult dogs at atime, as well as a litter of puppies that numbered as many as 13.From the time he was 13, Kyle tended to the dogs’ daily care including feeding, fillingwater bowls and cleaning up. And in addition to their own Great Danes, they boarded other people’s dogs and took in rescues. “It was like having stables for dogs, he recalls—thewhole situation gave me an incredible amount of responsibility.”
Kyle remembers trying to get the dogs back into their kennels after an afternoon of runningaround, as being a feat in itself. “You get a bunch of Great Danes running around a pasturewith gigantic runs the size of half a football field,” it took half an hour just to get them back in,” he explains.He admits learning many of his swear words from his dad yelling at the dogs. An old friendremembers spending the night and waking up in the morning to Kyle’s father screaming,“Phoenix, you son of a b@#ch,” followed by a Great Dane running past the window. “Itwas funny and yet surreal, because I was half asleep and thought it was a horse galloping by,” his buddy recalls laughing. “But my dad loved the dogs,” Kyle is quick to point out(since he’s well aware this is a paper for animal lovers and doesn’t want anyone to get thewrong idea).One of his fondest memories of childhood and another important lesson in responsibilityinvolved his Great Dane Lily. Kyle remembers the ritual like it was yesterday: getting picked up from school in the Buick Centurion with the dog in the back, going to the usual place for ice cream, parking in front of the same fire hydrant, and giving the bottom part of his cone to the dog. He also remembers vividly being nine or ten and the vet informingthem that Lily had Bloat. The vet gave his parents a choice: to put her down or have her operated on with a 50/50 chance of survival. Kyle remembers saying, “Give me a minute.He went outside to think about it and then said, “Let’s go with the operation.” Lily livedfive more years to the age of 10, which as Kyle notes, is old for a Great Dane.His parents were affiliated with the Great Dane Club of America and Kyle recalls thefamily packing up their motor home and traveling south to Florida or as far as the Midwestto dog shows that his mother judged. “Everyone knew everyone and they all took inrescues,” he said. “It was a well-organized machine. They all had a love for what they weredoing and saved a lot of dogs.”He’s still in awe of the social network of people who were involved with the shows,including families, and what he considered to be almost a carnival atmosphere. “It was agreat adventure. There was every breed of dog you can imagine. It was a gypsy kind of world,” he remembers fondly, and admits the shows were also great for people watching.“They all had a complete passion for animals and were goofy, but it was a fun goofy.”Kyle likens his days of dog shows to the acting world and meeting different people onlocation. “It’s a different type of person, obviously, but they are all interesting; creative, bizarre, happy, sad. It’s always an adventure.”He credits the dog shows with helping him to become outgoing and mature enough to dealwith different people, which he found useful later on as an actor.In addition to the Great Danes, Kyle had a slew of other dogs in his lifetime, includingdachshunds, whippets, a German shorthaired pointer, a beagle and a pit bull he rescuedduring his first year of college. He remembers that rainy, sleety night well. He was ridingwith his mother down a double lane highway after a road trip, when they noticed a tiny dog
sitting in the median about to get run over. They turned the car around and Kyle grabbedthe dog, stuck her in his lap, and brought her home to a warm shower and an equally warmreception from their two Great Danes. He also remembered his mother telling him it was a pit bull and returning to the vicinity the next day to see if anyone was looking for her.When he was convinced nobody was, Kyle claimed her, and enjoyed the dog’scompanionship for the next 12 years.Growing up with dogs helped prepare Kyle for the dogs he has today, but neverthelessadmits, “Having two kids and three dogs is a lot of work - but the dogs bring such joy andmake everyone happier - and the kids love them.”To ease his homesickness while away shooting
Friday Night Lights
, Kyle takes MissWiggles the Jack Russell on location with him to Austin, which is in itself, a laid-back, dogfriendly town. He says she’s a great traveler and fits under his seat on the airplane, as wellas enjoys riding on his motorcycle to work. He puts her in his jacket and sets a mat on thetank for her to rest her legs. Whereas most dogs might get agitated from the revving of theengine, Kyle says Miss Wiggles stands staring at him, waiting to get on. “She loves it,” hesays.And Miss Wiggles is by no means the lone dog on the set. Various cast and crew members,as well as the producer, bring their dogs, including Connie Britton (co-stars as Kyle’swife), who brings her pit bull and Aimee Teegarden, (plays his daughter), who brings her two yorkies. “It’s like a kennel on the set,” Kyle says. This includes the trailers the actorsshare that are filled with an array food and water bowls, as well as bones and chew toysunder foot. He admits certain dogs bicker (Miss Wiggles, not being above reproach), butthey manage to work it out.“People like to buy a car or bike brand new. The same with a cute, cuddly puppy they canraise from the get go, but there’s something different about an older rescue dog,” Kyle believes. “It’s rewarding - and a far different relationship. When they look at you, I think it’s a look of thanks.” Then after pondering it for a second, he adds, “Except my pug - hehas a strange way of saying thanks.”
The second season of
Friday Night Lights
starring Kyle Chandler premiers Friday,October 5 at 9pm on NBC.(Melissa Maroff is a Los Angeles-based writer and animal activist. She writes about dogs for eHow.com)
(Sept. 2007)
