Kyle Chandler has been a great TV lead and movie supporting actor for more than two decades. He's played lawmen, mostly good guys, and coaches, but when he goes dark, it's even more fun and interesting. Here are his 10 best movie and TV show performances, ranked.
10 The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street tells the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who used stock-brokering as his way to become a filthy rich, bad person. The film is surprisingly based on a true story, of all the excess, drugs, and crazy antics Belfort and his friends did during that time. Chandler was in his lawman phase, and here, he played Belfort’s antagonist, Agent Patrick Denham. Scorsese does such a good job of showing Belfort’s excess, that audiences are against everything Denham is doing, as he wants to shut down Belfort’s fun life. The actor brings the same wholesomeness and good guy vibes as in other projects, but here, his win is the audience’s loss.
9 The Spectacular Now (2013)
The Spectacular Now is a teenage love story between Sutter (Miles Teller) and Aimee (Shailene Woodley). They couldn’t be more different; he’s an almost-drunk senior, and she’s the smart, girl next door. The film earned many accolades as it told its story in a naturalist way that centered most on the characters and their evolution. Chandler’s role is very different from those he’s used to, as he appears near the end of the film, as Sutter’s father, someone who he hasn’t seen in many years, doesn’t have the best of lives, and is an alcoholic. The role is small, but marks a big change in what Sutter does for the rest of the film.
About playing Sutter’s father, Chandler told Entertainment Weekly: “When you look onscreen, he’s such an a–hole. Just a complete a–hole! But when you know what I know—the things that make him an a–hole—you just feel sorry for him. He’s not a bad guy. He’s going to go home and weep in his pillow. I’m really glad I did the role.”
8 Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Manchester by the Sea is one of the saddest movies of the last few years. So much so, that it is the perfect tragedy to help with depression. Lee (Casey Affleck) is a broken man after a big tragedy, involuntarily caused by him, changed his life for the worse. When his brother Joe (Chandler) dies, he must take care of Joe's teenage son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). The actor only appears in flashbacks to show why Lee thinks of him as the golden brother, and the Chandler is able to show how much he loved both his brother and his son, making for a soulful performance, that suggests what’s going on inside him, more than showing it.
7 Carol (2015)
Carol is all about the love story between Carol (Cate Blanchett) and a young woman named Therese (Rooney Mara) in the 1950s, when LGBTQ+ love relationships were not allowed. On this occasion, Chandler plays one of the almost villains of the film. His Harge Aird is Carol's husband, who won’t grant her a divorce because of his ego, and the fact that she’s with another woman feels like the biggest offense possible to him. Although the role isn’t sympathetic, the actor is able to give it a layered performance. His character might be stubborn and vindictive, but he’s also mourning having a good relationship and being happy with his wife and life.
6 Grey’s Anatomy (2006)
Grey’s Anatomy is a medical show that has been going for 19 seasons, and where the lead, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), has lived through all kinds of crazy situations, and near-death experiences. Chandler appeared in the double episode after the Super Bowl as a bomb squad hero that helps Meredith while she has her hands on a bomb inside a patient’s body. Although it was only a guest star role, it helped Chandler gain notoriety, so much so, that it might’ve been one of the reasons casting executives had him in mind for a role later in the list, one where he always shouted, “Clear eyes, full hearts. Can’t lose!”
5 Game Night (2018)
Game Night is an incredibly fun comedy where a group of friends on their game night are subjected to a real threat as mobsters are looking for a Faberge egg, while the friends all think that is part of a very elaborate role-playing game. Although the leads are Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, and both have fun performances, Chandler is who almost steals the show (who really steals it is Jesse Plemons) as the more successful brother of Bateman’s character.
Chandler starts as a cocky, suave, handsome rich man, but as the movie moves along, you discover he’s much more of a buffoon who is in over his head, as mobsters are trying to kill him. Even then, his charm makes the character fun, as he keeps trying to land on his feet and end up with some money in his pocket.
4 Early Edition (19996-2000)
Although not many remember Early Edition, this was Chandler’s big break and his first lead role on TV. The show was about a former stockbroker who received tomorrow’s newspaper today, so he could change the future. The character was as good, noble, and loyal as they came, making for a hero that audiences rooted for, and it showed Chandler’s superhero powers were to perform integrity and charm without any effort.
3 Catch-22 (2019)
Catch-22 was a different kind of animal for Chandler. Not only because this is a miniseries with an ending on site, but also because here, he was playing the bad guy, something he wasn’t that used to doing. His Colonel Cathcart is an arrogant, dumb man, who can send others to die so that his stature in the military can keep getting better, and better. It’s a different role for Chandler to play, and it looks like he loves it, as he gives an unhinged, funnier-than-it-should-be performance.
About his character, Chandler told the LA Times: “He could read as a stereotype of a cartoon character, almost. So that was a challenge. I had butterflies in my stomach. I did the first take, and they were laughing. And I thought, “This isn’t good.(...) You want to do justice to the severity of what it’s about, but you have to play the absurdity.”
2 Bloodline (2015-2017)
Bloodline was a crime drama about a family and all the bad things they had done. Chandler played police detective John Rayburn. He starts the show as the good son; the one that takes care of every bad thing that happens to his family, brothers, and sister included, but as the show develops, the character starts getting more complex and darker, as he spirals with guilt, and starts showing his true colors.
Although the show’s scene stealer was Ben Mendelsohn as the messed up big brother, Chandler was the glue that made all the stories sing, and made his scene partners, not only Mendelsohn, but also Linda Cardellini, Sissy Spacek, and Norbert Leo Butz, better.
1 Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
Friday Night Lights is the role for which Kyle Chandler will be remembered, as his Coach Taylor is one of the greatest characters on the show and TV at the time, and also had one of the best marriages ever written. Chandler’s performance had empathy, love, tough love, confidence, stress, fun, and ambition, and made every actor around him better, trying to be a good mentor to every one of them.
The show was known for improvising the dialogue, so the actor imbued the character with most of his own personality, and proved to be a great leader, both in front of and behind the camera, as most of the young actors playing high schoolers were in their first big roles ever. Chandler and Connie Britton were the sun around every other actor and story orbited them, and both proved these were the roles they were born to play. Chandler earned his first and only Emmy for the role, and it was a deserved one.