Coming to the ATX Television Festival is a highlight for the Friday Night Lights cast, as they all said at the 10-Year Reunion Tailgate Party.

We chatted with Stacey Oristano, who played Mindy Riggins on the series, at the opening night red carpet event about why she loves coming to the festival each year as well as her upcoming role on the Gilmore Girls revival.

“This particular festival, the ATX Festival, is what I look forward to every year. It’s in Austin, and it’s super exciting to do that. These girls (Festival Co-Founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson) do such an amazing job…everything’s easy.”

Oristano traded in her Dillon High roots for dancing shoes when she joined the cast of Bunheads, Amy- Sherman Palladino’s follow-up series after Gilmore Girls.

The two kept a relationship after the series ended, and Oristano will soon be seen in the much-anticipated Netflix revival, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

We asked Oristano how that call to be a part of the revival happened.

“The minute they announced that she was doing that, she sent me an e-mail, and she’s like, ‘Obviously I’m writing something for you.’ I was like, ‘That’s the coolest thing ever.’”

“It was the first time that I’d ever had anybody write something specifically for me, so it was interesting to be like, ‘Oh, this is how you hear me. I get it. I get what we’re going for here. This makes sense to me.’”

Oristano also told us about the character she’ll be playing.

“I kind of do what I always do. I go in, and I cause trouble for the main characters. Like, that’s always my job. I just make things tough for other people. And that’s what I do, a little bit.”

You can check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here!

Additional reporting by Ashley Bissette Sumerel.

Photos from the ATX Television Festival Opening Night Event:

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