{"id":435143,"date":"2026-08-17T09:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/435143\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:42:19","slug":"lanterns-star-kyle-chandler-on-grouchy-hal-jordan-episode-1s-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/435143\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Lanterns’ star Kyle Chandler on grouchy Hal Jordan, Episode 1’s ending"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the final moments of the first episode of \u201cLanterns<\/a>,\u201d Hal Jordan is shown in an unexpected light.<\/p>\n

After a 10-year time jump from the main events in Sunday\u2019s premiere, the veteran Green Lantern played by Kyle Chandler<\/a> is sitting alone in the snowy stands of a rural high school football field \u2014 dead. And the ring that gives him powers is nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat might have been another reason why I said, \u2018I want to do this,\u2019\u201d Chandler says during a recent interview. \u201cThat sets into the tone of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jordan that the audience gets to know is a bit surly and self-centered. A former military test pilot turned space cop, Jordan knows he\u2019s good at his job and has grown used to doing things his way. He has no problem expressing his displeasure at being inconvenienced by his unwanted trainee or earthbound law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the old grouchy characters,\u201d Chandler says. \u201cThey always try to do bad but it always falls on top of them. Then, when they do good, it\u2019s heartwarming. You get to play all these different colors inside of these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof<\/a> and Tom King<\/a>, \u201cLanterns<\/a>\u201d follows Jordan and new recruit John Stewart (Aaron Pierre<\/a>), whom he has been assigned to train. Considering new Green Lanterns are usually only called up when a current one dies, Jordan isn\u2019t really keen on having to teach his \u201cbackup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyle <\/p>\n

Kyle Chandler says he loves that Hal Jordan is \u201cgrouchy.\u201d <\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The HBO Max series is based on DC comic book characters and is set within the same universe<\/a> as films like \u201cSuperman<\/a>\u201d and \u201cSupergirl<\/a>\u201d and the TV series \u201cPeacemaker.\u201d But don\u2019t worry, familiarity with the comics or other franchise installments are not required.<\/p>\n

Mundy says he and his cohorts envisioned their Jordan as a Chuck Yeager type \u2014 someone who is cool and confident with the skills to back it up \u2014 and that Chandler\u2019s was a name that had come up immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle has a really, really good sense of himself, in the best way,\u201d says Mundy, who\u2019d previously worked with the actor on the series \u201cBloodline<\/a>.\u201d \u201cKyle, just as a person, is so likable and it\u2019s real. [So] it allows you to push the character to be even more of a jerk to John because you know it\u2019s going to fall back on, \u2018Oh yeah, it\u2019s Kyle doing it.\u2019 So it can land a little bit softer, and people can tolerate a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likable and charming are among the immediate impressions Chandler makes during a morning interview in West Hollywood earlier this month. He notes at the start that he\u2019s unsure if he has enough to talk about for the full duration we\u2019re scheduled for as if he\u2019s not a veteran actor with an arsenal of anecdotes and self-deprecating quips. (\u201cI don\u2019t think my humor is going to go over very well in print,\u201d he jokes. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t go over very well anyway.\u201d) <\/p>\n

Among Chandler\u2019s signature roles is the dedicated and dependable coach Eric Taylor on \u201cFriday Night Lights<\/a>\u201d \u2014 a character whose full-hearted approach to mentorship is quite different from Jordan\u2019s. His time on the show and working with executive producer Peter Berg \u201cchanged my whole way of looking at what acting was and is,\u201d he says. Chandler won an Emmy for his work on the show in 2011. <\/p>\n

\"Kyle <\/p>\n

Kyle Chandler as Earth\u2019s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, in \u201cLanterns.\u201d <\/p>\n

(John Johnson \/ HBO Max)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the thing that people don\u2019t quite understand because he makes it all look so easy is how technically proficient he is, and how many choices he\u2019s making all the time,\u201d Mundy says. \u201cHe\u2019s very, very gifted on a granular level as an actor.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chandler\u2019s the type of actor who still appreciates being sent physical copies of scripts. He makes sure to mention people by name if they come up in a story \u2014 including his manager Cynthia Pett, agent Leslie Siebert, \u201cLanterns\u201d costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers and fellow actor and friend Trent Bross. He credits the crew just as much as the cast for the care and passion they brought to the show and makes sure to clarify the difficulty of the work that was done while highlighting the fun he had on the production. <\/p>\n

He\u2019ll also casually ask questions to HBO and DC reps in the room mid-interview that can\u2019t be repeated here because of the implications to the broader franchise.<\/p>\n

Chandler says one of the things that stood out to him the first time he read the script for \u201cLanterns\u201d was the writing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the fact that there was humor, and self-deprecating humor and a grouchy character,\u201d says Chandler. \u201cI could see myself in this role. \u2026 Did I know anything about Green Lantern? I did not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green Lanterns are intergalactic heroes who use a special ring to harness their imagination and willpower to manifest objects, manipulate energy and fly, as we see Jordan do, to Stewart\u2019s chagrin.<\/p>\n

\"a <\/p>\n

Sheriff Kerry (Kelly Macdonald), John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) in \u201cLanterns.\u201d <\/p>\n

(John Johnson \/ HBO Max)<\/p>\n

Chandler might not have known much about Lanterns, but he does understand the power of imagination. While growing up in rural Georgia, the characters and stories he encountered while turning the UHF dial on the television were both a refuge and fuel for his own imagination as he played out in the woods by his home. It eventually inspired him to pursue a career in acting and opportunities in Hollywood. <\/p>\n

Coincidentally, the day Chandler came out to L.A. to start work on \u201cLanterns\u201d was on the anniversary of the day he first left his home to chase his acting dreams \u2014 Jan. 15, 1989. <\/p>\n

The actor describes Jordan as a \u201ctalker\u201d and \u201cbulls\u2014er\u201d who\u2019s \u201cgot far more on his mind than what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an older fellow who\u2019s afraid of losing his power and his mortality is coming about and his career is coming to a possible [end],\u201d Chandler says. So when the \u201cyoung upstart\u201d Stewart comes around, \u201cmy character\u2019s thought is, \u2018I\u2019m far wiser, I\u2019m far smarter, I\u2019m the only one who\u2019s ever done this before. Don\u2019t forget that kid.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan and Stewart may not have many kind words to say about each other \u2014 especially in the 2016 era of the show \u2014 but Chandler and Pierre more than make up for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d never worked with Aaron before \u2026 but once we\u2019re acting, it gets very intimate,\u201d Chandler says. \u201cOnce we started playing with each other, and you\u2019re still trying to figure out who your character is, working through the other character. It\u2019s such an intimate piece with two people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierre says this process was a \u201cjoyful,\u201d \u201cnourishing\u201d and \u201ccollaborative experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a given, nor is it an obligation or mandatory to develop a friendship with individuals that you collaborate with,\u201d says Pierre. \u201cAnd I was blessed with the gift of \u2026 developing a genuine, sincere friendship with Kyle that exists outside of the context of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyle <\/p>\n

Co-star Aaron Pierre says he and Chandler developed a genuine friendship while working on the show: \u201cIt\u2019s not a given, nor is it an obligation or mandatory to develop a friendship with individuals that you collaborate with.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

As much as Chandler is game to talk about his work on \u201cLanterns\u201d \u2014 including his delight that the show shot on the same Warner Bros. soundstage as his first TV series, \u201cHomefront,\u201d did in the 1990s, being nervous about the first formal table read with the rest of the cast and what it was like having his Green Lantern suit made \u2014 his eyes shine a bit brighter when he mentions his family.<\/p>\n

This includes the work he and his wife Kathryn do through Patriots\u2019 Hall of Dripping Springs<\/a>, a sprawling resource center for veterans and their families in their Texas community that they became involved with during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place to help veterans work through the VA, to help veterans job source, to help veterans come together for Taco Tuesdays and breakfasts and dinners,\u201d Chandler says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had so many supporters and people who have donated to help this out \u2026 and it\u2019s been an incredible experience. Very, very fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierre likens Jordan to a massive puzzle that Stewart is trying to piece together without any instructions or even a reference. Part of Stewart\u2019s journey over the course of the show is coming to understand that Jordan is an infinite puzzle and it\u2019s OK if he doesn\u2019t understand every nuance and detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he can do is understand who this individual is fundamentally at their core,\u201d Pierre says. \u201cHe knows that at his core, there is a mutual love and respect. He could trust Hal with his life, and Hal could trust John with his. At a certain point, John just kind of sets it free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"two <\/p>\n

John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), left, and Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) learn to form a bond in \u201cLanterns.\u201d <\/p>\n

(John Johnson \/ HBO Max)<\/p>\n

The Stewart who is taken to see Jordan in the final moments of the first episode is closer to the end of that journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had already captured so much of the tension between John and Hal that I was curious what I was going to feel as John seeing Hal in the stands frozen to death,\u201d says Pierre of that 2026 scene that was filmed during a cold night-shoot. \u201cI felt really emotional on the day and I totally just allowed that to present itself on camera. John will deal with that how he deals with it, but I felt this well of [emotion] come all the way up into my throat \u2026 and I had to navigate that as John.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while audiences will have to wait for the mysteries around Jordan\u2019s death and the happenings in Rushville, Neb., to be resolved in the show\u2019s seven remaining episodes, one thing is certain: No matter how much Jordan might come to appreciate Stewart in that time, he\u2019s probably not going to admit it out loud. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think that one of the goals of the arc for these two guys is that they really don\u2019t like each other at the beginning,\u201d says Chandler. \u201cAt the end \u2026 you realize [it\u2019s] a really wonderful friendship that occurred. \u2026 He\u2019s a friend. I\u2019m not gonna tell him that, but he\u2019s a friend, and I\u2019d do anything for him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the final moments of the first episode of \u201cLanterns,\u201d Hal Jordan is shown in an unexpected light.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1872,172716,6193,172719,9228,39406,4665,48,52,51,134075,47,50,49,592,172717,1860,26109,315,172718,1968],"class_list":["post-435143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-actor","tag-chandler","tag-character","tag-chris-mundy","tag-hal","tag-john","tag-jordan","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lantern","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-people","tag-pierre","tag-show","tag-stewart","tag-time","tag-veteran-actor","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}