Aldis Hodge Looks Back on "Friday Night Lights"

[JamesG]

Aldis Hodge's depiction of standoffish quarterback Ray "Voodoo" Tatum, who was brought in to replace the inexperienced Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), was fueled by the "anger" he felt after his part in the original pilot of The CW's "The Game" was recast.

The actor focused on "using every bit of my own personal feelings to push into this misunderstood character."




Voodoo's introduction in Season 1 of the critically beloved football drama centered on Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) recruiting him after the Tatum family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Coincidentally, Hodge had been in New Orleans just as the deadly hurricane was approaching the city. "People think he's angry and I'm like, 'Nah, he's hurt,'" the actor explains. "People are trying to use him but not necessarily help him."




Filming in Austin, Texas, was a "hell of a time," according to Hodge.

That is, except for the filming and practicing of the actual football, with summer temperatures routinely over 100 degrees. He also learned that no high school football players in Texas are exempt from criticism, even fictional ones.



"I remember throwing a pass while we were shooting and then the next day the local paper said, 'Shooting Friday Night Lights, Aldis Hodge, playing a star quarterback, throws a duck of a pass,'" he recalls. "Because I suck at throwing. If I was actually going to play football, I'd be a linebacker."

Or maybe eventually a running back…

https://ew.com/tv/aldis-hodge-role-call/