Kyle Chandler takes a beating in his first screen comedy and wins 'Game Night'

LOS ANGELES – Kyle Chandler isn't shy about admitting that he campaigned hard for a chance to show his comic chops onscreen.

The Emmy Award-winning actor, known for five indelible seasons as earnest Coach Taylor from TV's Friday Night Lights and three seasons as responsible cop John Rayburn in Netflix's thriller/drama Bloodline, used to end interviews with a not-subtle reminder.

"I would always say, 'The last thing I want you to know about me is, I am funny.' I figured that would get me a job one day," says Chandler, 52, laughing. "That speech finally paid off. Some sucker believed it." 

Two suckers, actually. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein knew Chandler was perfect as the mysterious Brooks — the alpha-male brother to Jason Bateman's Max in Game Night (in theaters Feb. 23).

Chandler brought his typical intensity to Brooks, whose shady business dealings make his murder-mystery game night seem like it might lead to real death. During a full-on brawl scene with kidnappers (which Brooks loses), Chandler padded himself up for stunts and tackled in ways that would have made Coach Taylor proud.

"I smacked my ankle and almost cracked it diving through a fireplace," Chandler says. "And at one point, I grabbed a guy against the wall, my finger got caught in his sweater, and I broke it."

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Sure enough, one of Chandler's fingers on the hand holding his drink glass at London Bar veers off dramatically at an angle.

"I was waiting for it to straighten out. But a week later, the doctor goes, 'It’s a little too late now.' So I have a hooked finger now," he says inspecting the wayward digit. "Football players call them a jersey tear."

But no injury stopped Chandler from going for the laughs, even when they weren't called for. During a dramatic moment in the comedy, where Brooks jumps from a moving car, Chandler improvised a comedic, high-pitched scream before leaping out the door. The directors put the kibosh on it.

"I thought it was funny. I still think it's funny. I talked to both of them about it and said that I really think that should be in there," says Chandler. "But their reasoning was that this was Brooks' heroic moment."

But his eagerness to let out the world's most-unmacho shriek demonstrates that Chandler is more than willing to give up his pride for a good laugh.

"I'm ready to make a fool out of myself," says Chandler. "I’m sure people won’t say, 'We need someone funny in this role. Let’s get Kyle Chandler.' But hopefully they say, 'Oh, he’s funny also. We can use him.' It's another color in my palette."

Chandler's comedy has roots in Friday Night Lights — especially in domestic scenes with screen wife Connie Britton, where Coach Taylor could show clumsy emotions.

"It's understated, but they were really funny together in Friday Night Lights," says Jesse Plemons, who starred as Landry, one of Coach Taylor's players, and reunites with Chandler in Game Nights. "Kyle has an interesting sense of humor. It was fun to go full circle with him on this."

Chandler, who gruffly shakes his head "no" when asked about a Friday Night Lights reunion, isn't finished spinning out new projects. He's stepping into a long-term action role as Mark Russell (playing Millie Bobby Brown's father) in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, out in 2019, with a third Godzilla about to get underway (for release in 2021). 

He's also just completed his role as Deke Slayton, NASA's first Chief Astronaut, overseeing Ryan Gosling's Neil Armstrong in director Damien Chazelle's First Man (Oct. 12), about the space mission that put a man on the moon.

He'd be less likely to jump at an opportunity to work with Chazelle on a La La Land-style musical. There are limits to what Chandler will do for entertainment. "I’m no song-and-dance guy," he says. 

"But I feel like I've hit the trifecta," Chandler adds. "I finally get a comedy, then I'm an action hero in Godzilla. And Damien Chazelle calls up and asks if I want to be part of the greatest adventure story ever told, a nation going to the moon. It’s fantastic. This has been a pretty great year."