“At age 60, when they ask you to play a superhero, you don’t walk — you run and say yes.”
That’s Kyle Chandler’s take on joining the DC Universe in the new HBO hit “Lanterns.”
Still, he didn’t exactly break into a full sprint. In fact, his initial response was no — even though he loved the script and used to pretend to be Batman as a kid.
His wife and daughters urged Chandler to take a few more days to think about it. Then the actor had an epiphany.
“This was a later-in-life bonus,” he says. “I pushed past the fear. Damn the torpedoes!”
In “Lanterns,” streaming on HBO Max, Chandler plays Hal Jordan, an original cool-guy superhero and the first man on Earth to wear the magical Power Ring. There is also the drama of Hal training John (Aaron Pierre), the man who will replace him. The series bounces between timelines in 2016 and 2026.
“I’m chewing this thing all the way through. This is a joy project,” says the actor, known for his Emmy-winning role of coach Eric Taylor on “Friday Night Lights” and movies including “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Argo.”
His own timeline finds Chandler and his wife, Kathryn, living on their 33-acre ranch near Austin, Texas. They have two adult daughters, Sydney and Sawyer.
He shared his good life advice:
Age is relative
Chandler says he shares many traits with his “Lanterns” character. “You’ve got an aging-out superhero, and I’m hitting that age right now. But the truth is, you never have to age out of anything. You have your knowledge base now. You have your ideas and thought. I’m turning 61 in September. I have girls who are now 30 and 24. Part of my life fits right into this character.”
Ask questions
Chandler says he did the typical deep dive online and in the comics to research the Green Lantern and the lore behind the characters. Then he did something even better: He started asking regular folks what they knew about the hero. “You can find these fans in bars, in restaurants, at the supermarket,” he says. “Even close friends who you assume know nothing are actually Green Lantern historians. You just have to ask questions because other people often fill in a lot of blanks.”
Suit up
“Lanterns” required Chandler to wear a complex rubbery suit that took upward of 45 minutes to layer onto his body. The actor was asked for his input on the look. “At one point, no one was sure that we would have a suit, and then they decided that I needed a suit,” he says. “Three different designs were created. Once I was in the suit, I really did feel like a superhero.”
It all works out
“You go into something like this — and just like most things in life — you can’t plan how it’s going to work out,” Chandler says. “You start shooting and have an idea of what’s going on. It was pretty early on that Aaron and I started playing around. I started digging at him. Aaron’s digging at me. All of sudden, we’re getting giddy and having fun. We just started playing with the characters. We let the day carry us, proving the moment is just as important as the best plans.”
Special memories
Chandler says his “Friday Night Lights” character still follows him and he has no problem with it. In May, there was a reunion at the ATX TV Festival to celebrate the beloved series’ 20th anniversary celebration. “It was really nice to share stories and get back together in person,” he says. “When we did the show, the community of Austin would fill the stands. They have ownership, too. I go there and people will say, ‘Hey, we met 20 years ago.’ I’m just real proud of that show.”
Get grounded
Chandler moved to his 33-acre ranch after falling in love with the Lone Star State during “Friday Night Lights.” He has animal friends there in the form of dogs and donkeys. “Every time I come home, we have a new dog, which is so cool,” he says. “I love to build a fire and have a night out there with my wife, my kids and the animals. You just feel grounded.’
Naturally fit
Chandler says that he mixes his cardio with being outdoors in nature. Some of his favorite activities to keep the blood pumping include swimming, golf, tennis, basketball, walking around his ranch and doing chores. “I find that being out in nature is not only great cardio, but it’s instant stress relief,” he says.
