Kyle Chandler

Working again in film, Chandler played the 1930s film star Bruce Baxter in the 2005 film King Kong (the character was based on romantic film star Bruce Cabot, who played Jack Driscoll in the original King Kong).

Coincidentally, Chandler later played John Driscoll in The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor.

As a freshman at Walton, he was a member of the 1979 state championship football team.

He left the team the following year, aged 14, after his father died of a heart attack.

He participated in the theatre program at Walton after quitting football.

Chandler's widowed mother ran the business, Sheenwater Kennels, to support Chandler and his siblings.

She "was highly active with the Great Dane Club of America (GDCA) as a breeder, judge and championship prize winner."

Chandler was raised Roman Catholic, although he stopped attending church after his father's death in 1980.

He grew up in suburban Lake Forest, Illinois, until he was 11 years old, when his family moved to a small farm in Loganville, Georgia.

Chandler's mother raised Great Danes for show dogs; he travelled with his parents to dog shows as a child and helped out at their dog boarding kennel.

Chandler graduated from George Walton Academy in nearby Monroe, Georgia, in 1983.

After graduating from high school, Chandler attended the University of Georgia, where he was a drama major and member of the class of 1984 Sigma Nu fraternity.

Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story, Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama Homefront (1991–1993).

In 1988, seven credits short of a bachelor's degree in drama, Chandler dropped out of college to pursue a television deal.

In 1988, Chandler was signed by the American Broadcasting Company and brought to Hollywood as part of ABC's new talent program.

He made his television film debut that same year as a supporting hero actor in Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story.

Also in 1988, Chandler studied with acting teacher, Milton Katselas.

His first major acting experience was a supporting role on television as Army Private William Griner in Tour of Duty.

In eight episodes of the last season of the series, he played a member of a special operations squad fighting in Vietnam.

From 1991 to 1993, he had a series regular role as Cleveland Indians right fielder Jeff Metcalf in the ABC series Homefront, a drama set in the post-World War II era in the fictional town of River Run, Ohio.

Homefront ran for two seasons, with Chandler appearing in all 42 episodes.

Chandler made his film debut in one of the key roles in the 1992 George Strait film, Pure Country.

In 1994, he made his Broadway debut, co-starring with Ashley Judd, in a revival of William Inge's Picnic at the Roundabout Theatre Company.

This was followed by the lead role of Gary Hobson in the CBS series Early Edition (1996–2000), for which he won a Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television.

From 1996 to 2000, Chandler starred as the lead character in the CBS series Early Edition, as a man who had the ability to change future disasters.

He portrayed bar owner Gary Hobson, a stockbroker turned hero who received "tomorrow's newspaper today", delivered to his door by a mysterious cat.

In 1996, he received the Saturn Award for Best Actor on Television for his portrayal of Hobson.

Chandler was featured in all 90 episodes of the series, which ran for four seasons.

His other television roles include the sitcom What About Joan? (2001) and the legal drama The Lyon's Den (2003), both short-lived, and a well-received guest appearance on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, for which Chandler received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

In 2001, he appeared opposite Joan Cusack as investment banker Jake Evans in one season of the ABC comedy series What About Joan.

In 2003, Chandler played scheming lawyer Grant Rashton in six episodes of the short-lived NBC series The Lyon's Den, opposite Rob Lowe.

Chandler's film work has included notable supporting roles in King Kong (2005), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), Super 8 (2011), Argo, Zero Dark Thirty (2012), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Carol (2015), Manchester by the Sea (2016), Game Night and First Man (2018).

Chandler received widespread critical acclaim for his performance as Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights (2006–2011); he received numerous award nominations for his portrayal of the character and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 for his performance in the show's final season.

Chandler's first starring role on television since the conclusion of Friday Night Lights was as Det. John Rayburn in the Netflix thriller Bloodline (2015–2017), for which he received his fourth and fifth Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

In 2021, he starred in the crime miniseries Mayor of Kingstown.

In November 2022, he appeared as the character Peter in the Netflix film Slumberland.

Chandler was born in Buffalo, New York, the fourth child of Edward Chandler, a pharmaceutical sales representative, and his wife, Sally Jeanette (née Meyer), a dog breeder.

Chandler has three siblings.

He starred as Dr. Mark Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).