Zach Gilford: 10 Best Movies & TV Shows

Zach Gilford’s movies and TV shows have led to some iconic roles for the actor as well as some great ones that more people need to discover. Gilford is an American actor who first rose to fame thanks to his role as Matt Saracen on the hit NBC series Friday Night Lights. Since then, Gilford has been gradually building an impressive career in both movies and television, finding roles that fit the likable nature that helped him become a star while also branching out into exciting roles that fans might not have expected from him.

Gilford continues to be a busy actor with the versatility in his work continuing through his work in the horror genre, supporting roles on other series, and the indie projects that a lot of audiences might have missed. Gilford has also shown that he can lead a project on his own, with Midnight Mass being a particularly impressive lead role for the actor. Taking a look at Gilford’s various projects over the years, his career will likely have even more exciting additions in the future.

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10 The Last Winter (2006)

As Maxwell McKinder

While there are a lot of great movies and shows for fans of Zach Gilford to revisit, he also has some underseen and overlooked projects that are worth seeking out. One such movie is the low-budget thriller The Last Winter, which draws elements from John Carpenter’s The Thing but tells its own unique story. The movie follows the small crew of an oil drilling operation in the Arctic who encounter a mysterious evil out in the snowy isolation.

Gilford and the rest of the cast were nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

Gilford joins the ensemble that includes Ron Perlman and Gilford’s fellow Friday Night Lights cast member Connie Britton. He plays Maxwell McKinder, the first of the crew to begin suspecting that there is something lurking out in the frozen landscape. It is a small but intense horror film with some interesting themes that elevate the story. Gilford and the rest of the cast were nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

9 Off The Map (2011)

Dr. Tommy Fuller

Off the Map TV-14ActionAdventureDrama

Off the Map is a medical drama series set in a remote South American village, where a group of doctors work in a barely equipped clinic. Led by Dr. Ben Keeton, the team includes young physicians grappling with personal and professional challenges. Created by Jenna Bans, the show explores themes of redemption, resilience, and the complexities of providing healthcare in a foreign environment.

Cast Jonathan Castellanos , Valerie Cruz , Caroline Dhavernas , Jason George , Zach Gilford , Mamie Gummer , Martin Henderson , Rachelle Lefevre Release Date January 12, 2011 Seasons 1 Creator(s) Jenna Bans

Off the Map is certainly not the most famous of Zach Gilford’s television roles, but it allowed him a different kind of role within a gripping medical drama series. Martin Henderson stars in the show as a humanitarian doctor who recruits a number of skilled and ambitious young doctors to help him bring medical attention to people in need in South America. Gilford plays Dr. Tommy Fuller, one of these new doctors taking on the adventure.

Tommy is a bit of an immature young man who doesn’t take his job as seriously as the others and who spends a lot of his time womanizing. While it is fun to see Gilford take on a more carefree character like this, he also ensures Tommy is a layered character. The show separates itself from the typical medical procedural shows with an exciting setting and the need for the doctors to take on any role required of them. Of course, the series also featured the romance and drama expected with shows like this.

8 The Last Stand (2013)

As Jerry Bailey

The Last Stand RActionCrime

The unlikely duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Johnny Knoxville team up in the action thriller The Last Stand by director Kim Jee-woon. When a disgraced LAPD turned Sheriff of a small town in Arizona is suddenly caught in the middle of a manhunt for a notorious international cartel leader, he’ll need to team up with a quirky vintage gun dealer to assist the FBI in taking down the wanted criminal.

Director Jee-woon Kim Cast Forest Whitaker , Harry Dean Stanton , Rodrigo Santoro , Genesis Rodriguez , Arnold Schwarzenegger , Luis Guzman , Peter Stormare , Jaimie Alexander , Johnny Knoxville Runtime 110minutes

Following his career in politics, Arnold Schwarzenegger made his return to action movies in the neo-Western The Last Stand. The film stars Schwarzenegger as the sheriff of a small town that is on the border with Mexico. When a drug kingpin escapes custody, he sets out on a mad dash to make it across the border with Schwarzenegger’s town serving as the only place that can hold him off. Zach Gilford joins the strong supporting cast that includes Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman, and Jaime Alexander.

Gilford plays one of Schwarzenegger’s deputies, Jerry Bailey. It is the kind of role he excels at, playing a good-natured and reserved young man to whom the audience immediately has a connection. While the movie itself might not be as big and explosive as some of Schwarzenegger’s more famous action flicks, it is still a fun take on the Western genre with an inventive style from Korean director Kim Jee-woon.

7 The Midnight Club (2022)

As Mark

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Mike Flanagan’s next horror story arrives in The Midnight Club, a streaming series adaptation of the novel of the same name from author Christopher Pike. In the Rotterdam Home hospice, a group of terminally ill friends ends their nights by telling scary stories to one another. One protagonist of Rotterdam discovers a book that compiles the accounts of those who believed they would die but didn’t. One night, they band together and make a pact; whoever dies first must send a sign from the afterlife. When one of the friends passes on, the surviving youths begin to experience supernatural occurrences – revealing that there are worse things to fear than death. 

Cast Samantha Sloyan , Zach Gilford , Igby Rigney , Heather Langenkamp , Matt Biedel , Annarah Cymone , Ruth Codd , Aya Furukawa Release Date October 7, 2022 Seasons 1 Showrunner Mike Flanagan

One of the most exciting aspects of Gilford’s career in recent years has been his various collaborations with modern horror master Mike Flanagan. While The Midnight Club is likely the most overlooked of their projects together, it also features one of the most interesting characters in Gilford’s career. The Midnight Club follows a group of terminally ill children in a hospice home who connect by sharing ghost stories each night and begin to form a connection with the dead.

Gilford’s most notable roles seem to bounce between the likable nice guy and the dark villain.

Gilford plays Mark, a nurse working at the hospice. Gilford’s most notable roles seem to bounce between the likable nice guy and the dark villain. Mark has a bit of both qualities as he initially seems to be a friendly and supportive person for the young patients, only for a darker and more mysterious side to come through as the series continues.

6 Good Girls (2018-2021)

As Gregg

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Good Girls is a comedy-drama television series that premiered in 2018. The show follows the lives of three suburban mothers, Beth, Ruby, and Annie, who are struggling to make ends meet. They decide to take matters into their own hands by robbing a grocery store, leading to a series of unexpected consequences and a journey of self-discovery.

Cast Christina Hendricks , Retta , Mae Whitman , Reno Wilson , Manny Montana Release Date February 26, 2018 Seasons 4 Creator(s) Jenna Bans

Zach Gilford starred alongside some notable TV veterans, including Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Retta (Parks and Recreation), and Mae Whitman (Arrested Development) in Good Girls. The comedy-crime series stars these actors as a trio of women who abandon their ordinary suburban lives to begin careers as criminals. Gilford has a recurring role in the series as Gregg, the ex-husband of Whitman’s character, Annie.

Gilford once again plays a character who could have easily come off as unlikable or an antagonist, but he brings a certain level of likability to the role. Gregg and Annie are often at odds throughout the series, but it is possible to see his point of view as well. He also makes for a nice romantic character when the two exes eventually rekindle their relationship later on. The show is a fun and thrilling story similar to Breaking Bad, elevated by its cast.

5 The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

As Shane

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As the sixth annual Purge commences, Leo Barnes plans to avenge the death of his son. However, he instead finds himself helping to protect four strangers: married couple Shane and Liz; single mother Eva; and Eva’s teenage daughter Cali.

Director James DeMonaco Release Date July 18, 2014 Cast Frank Grillo , Carmen Ejogo , Zach Gilford , Kiele Sanchez , John Beasley , Jack Conley , Michael K. Williams Runtime 104 minutes

Long before his various collaborations with modern horror master Mike Flanagan, Zach Gilford made a memorable horror movie debut in The Purge: Anarchy. The movie is the second installment in The Purge movie series, and while the first movie was a small-scale home invasion story, The Purge: Anarchy takes a look at what the world outside looks like during this 12-hour period in America when murder and all other crimes are legal.

The sequel follows various people who find themselves working together to fight for survival during all of the mayhem. Gilford breaks away from his typical nice-guy role to play the more unlikable Shane, who is trying to make it through the night with his estranged wife. While Shane isn’t the hero of the story, it is also clear that he loves his wife and wants to protect her at all costs.

4 Criminal Minds: Evolution (2022-2023)

As Elias Voit / Sicarius

Criminal Minds: Evolution ThrillerCrimeDramaMystery

In Criminal Minds: Evolution, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers come up against their greatest threat yet, an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. As the world opens back up and the network goes operational, the team must hunt them down, one murder at a time. Original cast members continuing their roles include Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster. Zach Gilford joins the dynamic cast as a recurring guest star in a season-long arc.

Cast Joe Mantegna , A.J. Cook , Kirsten Vangsness , Aisha Tyler , Adam Rodriguez , Paget Brewster , Zach Gilford Release Date November 24, 2022 Seasons 2 Creator(s) Erica Messer Watch On Paramount Plus

Criminal Minds is a series that earned a strong following among fans of crime and murder stories, so it is not surprising that there was a lot of interest in returning to the franchise with Criminal Minds: Evolution. The spinoff series continues to follow a group of FBI agents who specialize in profiling serial killers in order to hunt them down and stop them. The formula still follows the case-of-the-week setup, however, Zach Gilford adds an interesting new element as an overarching villain.

Gilford plays sadistic serial killer Elias Voit aka Sicarius, who has a network of killers around the country. Certainly, this is Gilford’s darkest role of his career, but he also manages to add some humanistic qualities to Voit, avoiding just making him one of the stereotypical killers Criminal Minds can often feature. Following the exciting cliffhanger of last season, it will be interesting to see Voit’s role in Criminal Minds: Evolution season 3.

3 The Fall Of The House Of Usher (2023)

Young Roderick Usher

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Loosely based on the story by Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher is a horror drama mini-series created by Mike Flanagan (Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House) for Netflix. This modern retelling follows a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO, Roderick Usher, as he is forced to reckon with his past as a curse begins to claim the lives of each of his children.

Cast Carla Gugino , Bruce Greenwood , Mary McDonnell , Carl Lumbly , Samantha Sloyan , T’Nia Miller , Rahul Kohli , Kate Siegel , Sauriyan Sapkota , Zach Gilford Release Date October 12, 2023 Seasons 1 Showrunner Mike Flanagan

While they could have more projects together in the future, Zach Gilford’s most recent collaboration with Mike Flanagan was The Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan draws inspiration from the works of poet Edgard Allan Poe to tell an expansive and terrifying story that is like a horror take on Succession. The series focuses on the Usher family, a wealthy and powerful dynasty with a curse hanging over their heads that will lead to their ruin.

The series jumps back and forth over the decades in telling the family’s story, with Gilford appearing in the flashback scenes as Roderick Usher, the patriarch of the family. Seeing him as this complicated and ambitious man offers some interesting new areas for the actor to play, while he also adds a level of tragedy to the role as the audience comes to understand how Roderick led to the deaths of his future children.

2 Midnight Mass (2021)

As Riley Flynn

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Created and directed by Mike Flanagan, Midnight Mass follows the residents of an isolated fishing community whose lives are changed by the sudden appearance of a charismatic new priest, Father Paul Hill (Hamish Linklater). The residents of Crockett Island struggle to eke out a meager living, just barely surviving off the mainland, but the appearance of Hill changes everything. Attendance at the local church is at an all-time high, but cynical ex-con Riley Flynn doesn’t trust the priest, and sets out to uncover his dark secret.

Cast Kristin Lehman , Matt Biedel , Hamish Linklater , Kate Siegel , Crystal Balint , Annabeth Gish , Alex Essoe , Samantha Sloyan , Henry Thomas , Rahul Abburi , Rahul Kohli , Robert Longstreet , Annarah Cymone , Zach Gilford , Michael Trucco , Igby Rigney Release Date September 24, 2021 Seasons 1 Expand

While Zach Gilford became one of the frequent actors Mike Flanagan reuses in his projects, their first collaboration has remained their best. Midnight Mass is a terrific horror miniseries that puts Gilford right at the center in the lead role. He plays Riley Flynn, a young man consumed with guilt over a deadly accident who returns to his island community of Crockett Island where he faces off with a mysterious priest who has arrived on the island.

The show is an intriguing mystery as well as a compelling examination of this strange community, which is centered on Gilford’s performance. Flynn is a dark and brooding character, drowning his troubles in alcohol, but Gilford still makes him an intriguing and sympathetic character, which is essential to follow him through the story. It’s some of the best work anyone has done in a Mike Flanagan project which is saying something.

1 Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)

As Matt Saracen

Friday Night Lights 1

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Based on the book of the same name, Friday Night Lights is a sports drama series that centers around the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team in Texas. The show focuses on the small town and the community they share, tackling major social and political issues and the players’ challenges as they go through an increasingly difficult season.

Cast Taylor Kitsch , Jesse Plemons , Kyle Chandler , Connie Britton Release Date October 3, 2006 Seasons 5 Showrunner Jason Katims

The show that introduced a lot of people to Zach Gilford also happens to be the best project Gilford has been a part of. Friday Night Lights is an emotional and captivating sports drama that takes a look at a high school football team in a small Texas town, where football is the most important thing. Gilford has a standout role as the soft-spoken and nervous Matt Saracen, who becomes the unexpected lead quarterback on the team.

Matt is a wonderfully charming character, with him seeming to be the opposite of most of the other confident football players. However, he is also an incredibly sweet young man, as seen in his relationship with his grandmother and his romance with Julie Taylor. Years after Friday Night Lights ended, the show is only gaining more fans and more acclaim as a touching, exciting, and inspiring story of this complex community.

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