What Happened To The Actress Who Played Tyra On Friday Night Lights?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

For those who spent the years between 2006 and 2011 engrossed in the Texas-based antics of high school footballing drama "Friday Night Lights," Adrianne Palicki will always be Tim Riggins' Applebee's worker girlfriend Tyra Collette. She played the character for 50 episodes across the NBC hit's first three seasons before twice reprising the role during its final year.

Of course, Palicki's talents extend beyond the fictional town of Dillon. Before landing her breakthrough role, she appeared in "Supernatural," "Smallville," and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." And after Tyra left the bright lights of the Panthers' stadium for the University of Texas, she went on to build an impressive resume which included everything from comic book writing to co-producing westerns. Oh, and her private life has been pretty eventful, too. Here's a closer look at what the star has been up to since "Friday Night Lights" came off the air. 

Adrianne Palicki looked like becoming the breakout star of "Friday Night Lights" — a show with plenty of surprising behind-the-scenes facts — in 2011, when shortly after the footballing drama wrapped up, she was cast as the lead in NBC's adaptation of "Wonder Woman." If you're wondering why you never saw the Palicki donning the famous tiara on screen, though, it's because the superhero show never made it past the pilot stage.

Yes, several years before the oft-controversial Gal Gadot steered the character to massive box office success, NBC bosses appeared to believe that there wasn't much of a market for comic book heroines. And the first episode, which also starred Cary Elwes, Elizabeth Hurley, and Pedro Pascal, was lost to the TV vaults. "It was devastating when it didn't go," Palicki told Entertainment Weekly nearly a decade on. "I feel like maybe if it had been [made] one or two more years [later], it would've been a shoo-in."

However, Palicki eventually saw the positive side of the career setback. "I would not have had a life between the stunt rehearsals, being in every scene," she acknowledged. "It would've been worth it, but it probably would've aged me massively in three years." The actor was also honored to have worn the famous Wonder Woman costume at least once, as well as having shared the set with her long-time celebrity crush, Elwes.

Adrianne Palicki's disappointment over the failed "Wonder Woman" pilot was no doubt compounded by the fact that she's a massive comic book geek at heart. She even has a tattoo of Supergirl! But in 2014, the actor was finally able to fulfill her superhero fantasies when she bagged the role of spy Bobbi Morse (aka Mockingbird) in the Season 2 of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

And Palicki soon proved that DC's loss was Marvel's gain, becoming a fan favorite across 31 episodes before leaving with Nick Blood's Lance Hunter in a dramatic Season 3 exit. But although she was undeniably excited about taking on the role, she also felt a huge burden of responsibility.

"Going on to 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' not knowing Bobbi yet was very nerve-wracking," Palicki told Entertainment Weekly. "These are real comic book characters. It's one of those things where there's a little bit of pressure, especially with Marvel fans. It's taken very seriously, as it should be, but there's a fear that goes with it."

The main reason Adrianne Palicki became so enamored with the likes of Wonder Woman and Supergirl from a young age was that her older brother Eric, whom she worshipped, was a comic book writer. "Anything he did, I wanted to do," she later told Entertainment Weekly. And in 2016, the pair got to share their ultimate passion in a professional capacity when they teamed up to write their very own four-issue comic.

As you'd expect, it boasted a strong, independent woman. "No Angel" was centered around Hannah Gregory, a veteran of the Iraq War, who after losing her dad in a mysterious murder, heads back to her small town to uncover the truth. There, she begins to learn that her strength may be literally superhuman.

In an interview with Bleeding Cool, Eric revealed that he and his sister largely worked over the phone. But that didn't stop them from regressing to their younger selves: "I'd write the scripts, we'd discuss revisions, repeat — so there was little opportunity for fisticuffs, but I can confirm plenty of name-calling. I've been telling people she's a poopy stinky dummy since I was seven years old, and that's no less true today."

Adrianne Palicki has previously dated several co-stars. In 2013, she was linked to DJ Cotrona, whom she'd just shared the screen with in "G.I. Joe: Retaliation." Then, in more official news a year later, she got engaged to Jackson Spidell, a stuntman she'd met on the set of action flick "John Wick."

Spidell had previously shown off his daredevil skills in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," most notably stepping in for Sam Claflin as District 10 tribute Finnick Odair, as well as the likes of "The Expendables 2," "Conan the Barbarian," and "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows." And he's since shown his face on camera in "Captain America: Civil War" and Black Ops leader in "Blue Beetle."

Unfortunately, Spidell and Palicki never made it down the aisle. "I called off the wedding in 2015," the latter told Entertainment Weekly two years later. "There were some major issues in our relationship that I ignored." Luckily, she didn't appear too cut up about the split. "[I] realized only a couple months before the wedding that sometimes people aren't meant to be together and it's OK to walk away."

Adrianne Palicki might not have made it down the aisle with "John Wick" stuntman Jackson Spidell. But she did get to say "I do" in 2019 to another co-star. Yes, two years after first meeting on the set of Seth MacFarlane's sci-fi series "The Orville," Palicki and Scott Grimes tied the knot.

"Last night was truly amazing!" Palicki captioned a series of wedding snaps on X (formerly Twitter). "I am so grateful for all the friends and family who made trip to celebrate with us, and to all of you for the kind words."

Grimes had twice been wed before, firstly to the mother of his two children, Dawn Bailey-Grimes, in 1997 and then in 2011 to Megan Moore, a make-up artist. The pair first went public with a hand-holding display at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. They also invited several other fan favorites to help celebrate their nuptials, including Palicki's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." castmate Ming-Na Wen. "Thank you for letting us be a part of your beautiful union," the latter wrote in a congratulatory post-wedding Instagram post (via Canoe). "You two are perfect for each other." Sadly, this sentiment appeared to be the kiss of death.

It's fair to say that Adrianne Palicki and Scott Grimes' love story wasn't the stuff of fairytales. Just two months after appearing to get their happy ending in an intimate marriage ceremony, "The Orville" co-stars split. And just to make things a little more uncomfortable, they'd just had to face the public at the same San Diego Comic-Con where they first announced their relationship, too.

Reportedly, Palicki was the party who filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason. But she later had second thoughts, and after dropping the filing, the pair even made it to their first wedding anniversary. "What a bizarre year it's been with all of it's [sic] ups and downs," the "Friday Night Lights" star acknowledged in an Instagram celebration in May 2020. "Thankfully, we've been able to navigate it together. I love and appreciate you."

However, this reconciliation proved to be short-lived, and just two months later, Palicki headed for the divorce courts for a second time. And on this occasion, she meant business. "So thankful for our time as a couple, even more thankful for our deep, everlasting friendship," Palicki told her Instagram followers, confirming that their permanent separation had been an amicable one. "Love you SG," she added.

While most of her post-"Friday Night Lights" career has been in the fantastical world, Adrianne Palicki has occasionally been given the opportunity to show she's a gifted comedy actor, too. She played Dr. Samantha in sitcom "About a Boy," portrayed real-life law enforcement officer Kate Warne in an episode of "Drunk History," and appeared in all three seasons of Seth MacFarlane's "The Orville." But it was undoubtedly the Broken Lizard troupe's 2023 movie "Quasi" where she truly got to show off her comedic chops.

"I love doing improv," Palicki told Den of Geek while promoting the latter Hulu movie in which she played the seductive Queen Catherine of France. "'Friday Night Lights' was a lot of improv, but that was dramatic. So I haven't really done a lot of comedic improv. ["Quasi"] was scary at first, but they are so warm and welcoming. The minute I felt comfortable, which was pretty much from the start, they allowed me to just kind of relax into it."

Palicki admits that she was initially confused as to why the team wanted to cast her in the first place. But during an early Zoom call with Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffernan, she realized she could more than hold her own. "Steve immediately insulted my last name, but I then gave it right back to him. So I think from moment one, it was like, 'This is gonna be fun. We're gonna have some fun here.'"

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Adrianne Palicki playing assassin Ms. Perkins in the first installment of the "John Wick" franchise. But the "Friday Night Lights" graduate wasn't the first choice to inhabit the formidable character. In fact, she was initially written as a he.

While speaking to The Film Stage in 2014, Palicki revealed that even when she signed on the dotted line for the box office hit, Perkins was still down in the script as a male. In the end, however, this proved to be hugely beneficial when it came to guiding her performance: "They just didn't want to weaken the character at all. They wanted to keep that masculine, emotionless character intact, which is great and I think it really worked."

Since then, Palicki has also shown her action heroine talents in several other projects, playing a SWAT leader in the straight-to-DVD movie "S.W.A.T.: Under Siege" and superspy Bobbi Morse in the Marvel Universe's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." "I think it started with 'Red Dawn' and from there was a tumbling effect," she explained to Cinapse about her pivot into the genre. "I have to say if you are going to be typecast it isn't the worst place to be typecast in. I love doing the stunts and being in the moment."

Adrianne Palicki might not have much interest in reprising her much-loved character, Tyra Collette. But that doesn't mean she's averse to reuniting with her old "Friday Night Lights" castmates — many of whom have also gone on to bigger things — from time to time.

In 2016, for example, four years after the show wrapped, Palicki joined the likes of Scott Porter, Jesse Plemons, and Matt Lauria for Texas' yearly TV celebration at Austin's Panther Field. That same year, she appeared alongside Connie Britton, who in 2023, opened up about her relationship with David E. Windsor — in an Instagram snap the latter captioned, "Nothing better than reuniting with this one ... A friendship that stands the test of time and place." And in the midst of the pandemic, she hopped on a virtual get-together with Stacey Oristano, Derek Phillips, and Taylor Kitsch — whose Hollywood future once looked bleak — to reminisce about the good old days and theorize about where their respective characters would be in 2020.

"Obviously Tyra and Tim are married with five children, probably divorced like twice," Palicki argued (via Deadline) before adding that they'd have also given Billy "the s***ty guest house with no electric or AC, or bathroom."

Adrianne Palicki hasn't had much luck when it comes to fronting her own franchise entry. Five years after NBC refused to pick up her "Wonder Woman" pilot, the actor was once again left disappointed, this time by rival network ABC, when her "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." spinoff was shelved before making it to air.

After being thrown out of the titular agency in the Season 3 finale, Palicki's Bobbi Morse and Nick Blood's Lance Hunter were supposed to get their own show charting the characters' fortunes as they went on the run. But apparently concerned by the concept of superhero fatigue, the bosses decided they'd let fans use their imagination instead.

"It was really good," Palicki claimed to Den of Geek about the show that never was. "It was just these two people. It kind of had this Bonnie and Clyde feel to it, with their comedy sensibility, and just boom, boom, boom action. But it felt like it was more in our universe, as opposed to the sci-fi universe of things. It was a little bit more grounded in human nature." Despite the disappointment, however, the Ohio native hasn't ruled out reprising the role of Morse in another project.

Although Seth MacFarlane's "The Orville" hasn't been officially laid to rest, fans shouldn't expect a fourth season of interplanetary parodies anytime soon. Well, not according to one of its stars, Adrianne Palicki, anyway.

While appearing on Michael Rosenbaum's podcast "Inside of You" in 2023, Palicki was asked whether the show might return. "No, no longer doing that," she immediately answered before claiming that she had no idea if the show had been canceled. And the Ohio native also revealed that she found shooting the sci-fi dramedy a stressful experience, largely due to its creator's insistence on writing the entire script himself.

"It became an actual, real issue because there would be so much time in between seasons," Palicki said about the show, which shot just 36 episodes across the space of six years. "J. Lee was eating saltines and Gatorade at one point because we just couldn't afford anything," she claimed, referring to one of her castmates and the financial situation they found themselves in. "It was horrible."

In 2023, Adrianne Palicki returned to her "Friday Night Lights" stomping ground, Texas, to appear in the kind of feel-good yuletide movie that the Hallmark Channel has become famous for. Only it wasn't made for the Hallmark Channel. In fact, "A Christmas in New Hope" got a theatrical release — albeit a strictly limited one in various small Austin towns — before making it to various on-demand services.

Directed by Julia Barnett, "A Christmas in New Hope" starred Katrina Bowden as the single mom of a Down Syndrome pre-teen who attempts to make some extra money by entering an environmentally friendly, seasonal home improvement competition. And Palicki played the organizer, who back in high school, used to be the leading lady's number one frenemy. "Surprise! Christmas came early this year," Palicki captioned a trailer of the movie on Instagram. "Pull on your boots and gather 'round, y'all."

This wasn't Palicki's first festive venture, however. Back in 2007, she joined an unlikely list of narrators, which included Pete Wentz, Lil Jon, and Milo Ventimiglia, for a series of stop-motion animated shorts titled "Winter Tales."

Having appeared in everything from high school football dramas and sci-fi parodies to action thrillers and feel-good festive movies, Adrianne Palicki added another string to her bow in 2025 when she played the leading lady in a contemporary twist on the western, also co-producing it as well`.

Indeed, "Due West," which also starred Henry Thomas, Odette Annable, and her former "Friday Night Lights" castmate Matt Lauria, saw Palicki play an unnamed West Texas woman who must break the law in order to receive the medical care she so desperately needs. It was a part that director and screenwriter Evan Miller penned specially for the star.

"Adrianne and I had worked together on a short film called 'Thoughts and Prayers,' Miller explained to AdChat about Palicki's casting. "She gave an incredible performance which made me think, as often happens in Hollywood, here is an actress whose talents are being criminally underutilized ... And boy, did she ever deliver."