The NBC drama Friday Night Lights helped launch the careers of numerous young actors who starred on the popular series. From Jesse Plemons to Scott Porter, it turned many of these young stars into household names. While we're partial to Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler, the series wouldn't have been the same without their rebellious daughter Julie Taylor, brought to life by Aimee Teegarden. A lot has happened since Teegarden's days in Dillon, Texas. She's gone on to appear in multiple films and TV series and has even recently turned into a Hallmark Channel star.
Teegarden grew up in Downey (Los Angeles suburb), California, and luckily had parents who were willing to take her to acting classes and auditions after work. She kicked off her career when she was just 10 years old booking roles on Cold Case, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, and Disney's Hannah Montana before she booked her first pilot as the football coach's daughter on NBC. Little did she know, it would change her life.
"I was 16 when I booked the pilot for Friday Night Lights," Teegarden explained to Nylon. She ended up winning TV Actress of the Year at the 2011 Young Hollywood Awards for the role she played for 5 seasons.
"That was my first pilot I had ever done. At that time, they were making a lot more pilots every year, and I remember someone saying to me, "Oh, that's your first one. You'll have to do at least six to seven before anything gets picked up." I had no idea what I was really stepping into. That show was just—it's alchemy. It's everything happening when it needs to happen and the right pieces sort of fall together. And Kyle Chandler, I remember, he used to say to us, "You kids, you have no idea how good you have it. You have no idea." So I think, at the time, we all kind of just really tried to enjoy it as much as possible, and it was just such a special show and it was an amazing time in my life."
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The actress went on to book roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Legend of the Seeker, the web series Aim High, and CSI: Miami before landing the lead role of Emery Whitehill on the short-lived science fiction high school drama on the CW, Star-Crossed, as well as Notorious opposite Piper Perabo and Daniel Sunjata on ABC. She's also appeared in a few quality films including Love and Honor, Prom, Scream 4, the horror film Rings, and most recently Guest House with Pauly Shore. Teegarden has even appeared in various music videos for Demi Lovato, Neon Trees, and Metro Station. But we're honestly just really excited that one of our former teen stars is starting to appear more frequently on the Hallmark Channel.
So far, Teegarden has appeared in Once Upon a Christmas Miracle which was based on a real-life couple who met and fell in love after one man selflessly donated his organs to a complete stranger with liver failure, as well as A New Year's Resolution. We can only hope there are many more roles for the actress in the near future!
Outside of work, Teegarden is incredibly active in volunteering for charities. She regularly volunteers at dog shelters in Los Angeles, a passionate rescue mom herself to an adorable pup named Gizmo, as well as Oceana, a non-profit dedicated to restoring the world's oceans.
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