Friday Night Lights' Connie Britton Joins ABC's Nashville!

Britton will play a fading country musician who teams with a hot up-and-comer in the family soap

By Tierney Bricker Mar 06, 2012 8:01 PMTags
Connie BrittonMichael Buckner/Getty Images

Pretty sure she won't be impregnated by a man in a rubber suit in this one, y'all!

Friday Night Lights and American Horror Story actress Connie Britton (aka Tami Freakin' Taylor!) has landed the lead role in ABC's pilot drama Nashville, which focuses on a family living in, you guessed it, Nashville. Yes, Britton is just that gracious that we don't even have to go a full season without seeing her on our TV screens. 

So who is Britton playing? And will she be singing?

The soap focuses on a family involved in the Nashville music scene and Britton is set to take on the role of Rayna James, a once-popular country musician (think Gwyneth Paltrow in Country Strong!), who teams up with a rising young singer Juliette (Heroes' Hayden Panettiere is taking on the Taylor Swift-ish role) in an attempt to rejuvenate her career. Also starring in the pilot are Jonathan Jackson, Powers Boothe and Robert Wisdom.

Don't fret AHS fans, this casting news doesn't mean we've seen the last of Britton on the FX hit series. While she, along with Dylan McDermott and Taissa Farmiga, will not be returning as a series regular in season two, creator Ryan Murphy teases, "Anyone can pop up at anytime...the Harmons were exhausted, let's give them at least one season off." It's such hard work being dead!

And just because Britton is moving to Nashville doesn't mean she's forgotten her Texas roots. Texas Forever, remember?! Britton is definitely still game for the much-talked about Friday Night Lights movie. "I don't know what the script is going to be like or when we're going to start shooting but they're serious about it," she tells us. "I don't think it's going to be a rush because people are really busy doing all of the things that they're doing and Peter Berg has got a big movie coming out this summer."

What do you think of this casting news? Are you excited to see Britton in this new role? Sound off in the comments!

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