Why did Jesse Plemons leave Friday Night Lights? Reasons, explored

Premiering in 2006, Friday Night Lights is still considered one of the best shows of the decade. The show, which ran for 5 seasons, came to an end in 2011. As per the official synopsis provided by Rotten Tomatoes,

"Friday Night Lights" centers on the rural town of Dillon, Texas, where winning the state football championship is prized above all else. Coach Eric Taylor guides a high school football team through pressure-filled seasons while dealing with struggles relating to his own family. The interactions between the team members, current and former players, supporters, coaching staff and regular townsfolk address many of the issues facing small-town America.”

The show had a lot of talented actors on board, including Connie Britton, Taylor Kitsch, Zach Gilford, Adrianne Palicki, and Jesse Plemons, to name a few. While most characters on the show were series regulars, Plemons’ was not part of the final season of Friday Night Lights because of his contract not being renewed.

Let us now explore in detail the reason behind Pelmons not being a part of Friday Night Lights Season 5.

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Jesse Plemons did not appear in the final season of Friday Night Lights

While Jesse Plemons was one of the most beloved characters in Friday Night Lights, he did not feature in the last season. The simple reason behind it was that his contract was not renewed, and the story, given the way it progressed, offered limited scope to further explore Plemons’ character.

Executive producer, Jason Katims, confirmed the same in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying,

“With Jesse — as with previous cast members who have moved on — Pete Berg, myself and the producers of the show let the storytelling guide us. And we feel we didn’t have substantial enough storylines to justify keeping such an immensely talented actor from pursuing what we know will continue to be a very successful career.”

He further added,

“Jesse has created one of Friday Night Lights finest and most beloved characters and I can tell you this was not an easy decision.”

However, to keep the hope of seeing Plemons again on Friday Night Lights, he mentioned,

“We hope he will come back for the season opener and several other episodes later in the season, depending on his availability.”

His words showed that Plemons being out of the show had nothing to do with hard feelings on either side and was just a decision that was necessary for the plot of the show. Besides Friday Night Lights, Plemons has also collaborated with the show’s creator Peter Berg after the show’s end for the film Battleship, which shows they share a really good professional bond.

Currently, there is a reboot of Friday Night Lights in work and while the creative team, namely Peter Berg as the director, Brian Grazer as executive producer, and Jason Katims as showrunner are going to be back, the cast will be featuring completely new faces, without having the possibility of getting any of the older cast members back.

Friday Night Lights can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

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