It might seem hard to imagine Connie Britton topping her last two TV performances as Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights and Vivian Harmon on American Horror Story. But the actress has found another show stopping role on the new ABC drama, Nashville.
“It’s been just such an incredible experience, hugely challenging, but that’s kinda why I wanted to do this role,” Emmy-nominated Britton told NPR. “There are many days that I think to myself: What was I thinking? I must have lost my mind. I’ve always been musical—I’ve done regional musical theater. The thing about country music, is it is about story telling. That’s my favorite part of being an actor and I thought as an actor, I could tap into that aspect of it.”
Britton’s image is very much attached to her beloved portrayal of Coach Eric Taylor’s wife on Friday Night Lights—a role, that like her character Rayna James on Nashville, speaks with a Southern accent.
“The difference is really subtle,” Britton said. “What I find in Nashville, in particular, is that there are really strong variations in the accent. There are people who have lived in Nashville their whole life who have very little accent. And then, there can be very strong Tennessee accents. I think with Rayna, because she is this polished performer, but she also comes from there, I’ve sorta made a choice that she almost goes in and out of an accent a little bit because she comes from a world where the accents aren’t quite as strong. But then she’s also in the country music world, and she comes from a country tradition. I grew up in Virginia; I grew up in the South. I also sometimes have no accent but then if I’m around those people, I slide right back into it.”
Nashville airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC
