Why Kyle Chandler's Family Loves His Roles: 'It Gets Me Out of the House'

The actor also opens up about his new movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters and an almost-chance encounter with a wild animal that wandered onto set

kyle chandler
Photo: Rachel Murray/Getty; Rex/shutterstock

Ask a Kyle Chandler fan how and when they became enamored with the actor’s work and they’ll likely cite his portrayal of Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights. But if you ask his family to pick a favorite part of his, their answer might surprise you.

“To be quite honest, my kids don’t watch and haven’t seen a lot of what I’ve done,” Chandler, 53, tells PEOPLE of daughters Sydney, 23 and Sawyer, 17, with wife Kathryn, 55. “They’re aware of it, a few things they have [seen] but mostly I think my girls and my wife are just happy to have me out of the house.”

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 18: Kyle Chandler and daughter Sydney Chandler attend the Premiere Of Warner Bros. Pictures And Legendary Pictures' "Godzilla: King Of The Monsters" at TCL Chinese Theatre on May 18, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
Kyle Chandler with his daughter Sydney at the Godzilla: King of the Monsters premiere in Los Angeles. Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

His performance in Godzilla: King of Monsters did earn a rave review from Sydney however, who attended the L.A. premiere of the monster movie with her dad.

“When it’s all over she goes, ‘Look Pop, that’s a great movie but the only thing I cared about was you.'” Chandler says. “And then I gave her a $100 and that was settled.”

For more on Kyle Chandler and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE.

Chandler, who is also starring in Hulu’s Catch-22, says that he had a great experience working on the film, in which he plays a grieving father and Godzilla skeptic. His time making the film included a near-miss with a wild animal that accidentally wandered onto the massive sets where they filmed in Georgia.

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS Copyright: © 2019 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND LEGENDARY PICTURES PRODUCTIONS, LLC Photo Credit: Daniel McFadden Caption: (L-R) KEN WATANABE as Dr. Ishiro Serizawa and KYLE CHANDLER as Dr. Mark Russell in Warner Bros. Pictures' and Legendary Pictures' action adventure "GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS," a Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Kyle Chandler in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Daniel McFadden/Warner Bros.

“Those sets were incredible,” Chandler says. “I had a friend visiting from out of town and he and I went over to the sound stages and the guy in charge goes, ‘What are you doing here?’ And I said, ‘Oh well, I’m one of the actors.’ He goes, ‘Oh, okay. Watch out for the bear.’ I said, ‘Okay. Sure.’ Thinking he was joking around right?”

He continues: “I thought about it and I walked over and I said, ‘What did you mean by, ‘Watch out for the bear’?’ And he goes, ‘Oh, there’s a bear loose in here. We can’t find him. He got into the paint room and there’s paint all over the place. He might be up in the rafters. If you see him, he’s gonna be all different colors.’ Sure enough, there was a bear loose [on set]. They finally found him and chased him across the street.”

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is now playing.

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