“I Got a Paycheck” — Kyle Chandler Has a Hilariously Blunt Reason for Enjoying Two Versions of Hal Jordan

Published 09/01/2026, 12:02 PM EDT

RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2018 TITLE: Game Night STUDIO: DIRECTOR: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein PLOT: A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when the shady brother of one of them is seemingly kidnapped by dangerous gangsters. STARRING: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler. Marietta U.S. - ZUMAg90_ 20180223_sha_g90_366

When one Green Lantern was not enough, Kyle Chandler apparently took the ring and doubled the assignment. In HBO’s Lanterns, Chandler plays Hal Jordan in two very different forms: the alive, grouchy, cynical veteran space cop from 2016, and the 2026 Halogram, a dead man’s AI avatar left inside the ring to guide his successor. Fans may be enjoying twice the emerald glow, but Chandler had another bright spot: the paycheck.

And Chandler is clearly not done patrolling the Green Lantern Corps just yet, as his hilariously blunt answer reveals exactly what made playing both Jordans so enjoyable.

Kyle Chandler's serotonin boost during Lanterns was his paycheck

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Kyle Chandler had plenty to enjoy while slipping into Hal Jordan’s emerald boots, and his reasons ranged from the hilariously practical to the genuinely personal. The actor credited good craft services and noted Aaron Pierre as one of the reasons why he enjoyed playing two versions of Hal Jordan. He also relished the chance to explore Hal Jordan across two very different points in his life.

“First of all, I got a paycheck,” Chandler said to Collider, before moving on to the equally important matter of excellent craft services. From there, the Lanterns star praised his collaborators, particularly Aaron Pierre, while admitting that playing two versions of Hal Jordan gave the already nonlinear story another fascinating layer. The decade-long gap between the characters made the experience even richer.

Credit: John Johnson/HBO Max

Chandler also noted to Collider that he enjoyed getting to revisit a more squared-away version of his veteran Green Lantern while revealing sides of Hal Jordan that audiences had not seen before. The sprawling character gave him plenty of room to make fun of everyone, including himself, which kept the cosmic police work from becoming too solemn. Now, he is eager to see how a live audience reacts to the finished adventure.

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While Chandler’s Lanterns paycheck remains under wraps, unlike the great films that he has worked on, any figure that emerges will have some serious career earnings to compete with.

Kyle Chandler's biggest paycheck

Before Kyle Chandler ever stepped into the Green Lantern Corps, he had already secured a rather impressive place in television’s salary constellation. Chandler reportedly earned an estimated $175,000 to $200,000 per episode as John Rayburn in Netflix’s Bloodline, putting his 33-episode run at roughly $5.7 million to $6.6 million before taxes and fees. The role also brought two Emmy nominations.

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That makes John Rayburn a particularly useful benchmark whenever Chandler’s undisclosed Lanterns paycheck enters the conversation. After all, the actor has already proved that playing a troubled detective can be considerably lucrative, even before trading Florida for Coast City and detective work for Green Lantern duty. So, if Chandler found his emerald assignment enjoyable, the money certainly did not hurt.

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Did you find Kyle Chandler's answer funny? Let us know in the comments!

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Iffat Siddiqui

1331 articles

Iffat is an Entertainment Journalist at Netflix Junkie. A word wizard, she had the sorting hat smoke at the seams owing to her excellence in everything Hollywood and cinema until it finally declared that she belonged to the Royals, specifically Meghan Markle. Boasting over 300 articles (and counting), each one tastefully infused with the right mix of facts, wit, opinion, and essentially everything to make a perfect pop culture piece, she is the epitome of a trustworthy entertainment journalist.

Edited By: Adiba Nizami

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