I thought it was a terrible idea being a supporting character on a football show.
— Connie Britton
The funniest women I've known are Southern. It is such a vital way to get what you want. Charm and grace and a sense of humor will take you a long way.
My dad's family was from Tennessee. I grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia, where we lived at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid, I was totally into Southern rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd. ZZ Top. It was so part of who I was.
I lost my mom to breast cancer, and then I lost my father three years later. I thought, 'What am I waiting for?' Motherhood has been the greatest gift of my life.
Beauty is about what's inside us, loving who we are and nurturing that. Outward beauty can really blossom from there.
I feel like 'Nashville' can go on indefinitely.
Sometimes my favorite directors are the ones I literally want to punch in the nose.
I was so green, and my background was mostly in theater. The only thing I'd done in front of a camera, besides an infomercial and one commercial, was 'Brothers McMullen.'
I think the most important thing about the Emmys stuff is just to enjoy it. It can get really stressful in weird ways, and I have definitely experienced that. This year, I really just want to have it be a fun celebration!
Now that I have a 16-month-old son, my weekend ritual has changed - but it's better than ever. We get up early and go for a walk on one of the hiking trails near my home in Los Angeles, then meet up with friends at a diner. There's nothing better than sipping coffee, eating scrambled eggs, and taking three hours to do it.
I was born in Boston, but then I went down to Virginia. We spent a little time in Maryland, and then were in Virginia by the time I was seven. What struck me the most was that my mother thought that she had gone to the middle of nowhere, and we would still drive four hours for her to get her hair cut in Washington, D.C.
I'm in an environment where I have a lot of information about how to stay healthy and live a good life. I love vegan and raw food, I love to exercise. If I weren't in this business, I think I would be aging differently.
In the past I'd always felt like 'the girl' in the show or the movie. On 'Friday Night Lights' there were a bunch of girls, and I was the woman. Initially there was a little struggle with my identity around that. But now there's a sense of ease.
I would say country is the one type of music I've spent the least amount of time with in my life. I grew up in Virginia, where there was a lot of it, but I was more interested in rock and roll. Southern rock.
TV loves to bring in affairs - as soon as you have a relationship, let's screw it up.
In many ways, the South can be very traditional and confining. And what is interesting to me is how women find their way around it. Those obstacles create an amazing sense of humor, of fun, and, ultimately, of integrity. The fiercest and savviest women I have ever known are the women I grew up with.
I started hearing people say, 'There's a blog about your hair, and there are all of these Tumblr accounts.' I'm like, 'What's Tumblr?' I'm pretty mystified by it, because I look around, and a lot of people have great hair.
I'm booby and kind of curvy, so I definitely need to wear things that work with that. I can't just put on a muumuu, because it looks crazy on me.
I don't know a single woman in her 40s who isn't incredibly full of life and sexuality and desire for everything. There's nothing sexier than life experience, and there's nothing sexier than knowing your own body and having a little bit of experience with that.
Let's put it this way: The older you get, the easier it is to date younger men. There are more of them.
The thing about taking risks is, if it's really a risk, you really can fail. It's only a pretend risk if you really can't fail.
People have always asked, 'Do you prefer comedy or drama?' And my answer is, 'Both, at the same time.'
We're trying to tell a very full story of 'Nashville' and these characters in Nashville, and I'm really hopeful that we're going to be able to do something as innovative as 'American Horror Story' and 'Friday Night Lights.' And I think so far, we're on the right path for that.
For my birthday this year, my girlfriends - who knew I'd just inherited my dad's turntable - gave me a carton of albums like 'Blue Kentucky Girl,' by Emmylou Harris, and 'Off the Wall,' by Michael Jackson. It's all stuff we grew up with. I mean, you can't have a music collection without Prince's 'Purple Rain' - it just can't be done!
My whole background is theater, and theater is to some degree presentational.
Divorce is hard. I was about 29 when my husband and I split up. I think we probably fared better than most, because we were young and didn't have kids - but divorce is hard.
I'm obsessed with 'Thelma and Louise,' and therefore obsessed with Callie Khouri who wrote that movie.
There's something about Southern women that is so unique yet so universal. Strong southern women are allowed to be soft and feminine and have a sense of humor. But what I love about Southern women in particular is their universality.
It's daunting to play a real living person.
The South was influential in my life. It helped form who I am. I went to New York out of drama school, and I lived in California.
The U.N. has been focusing on the global goals in terms of trying to fight and eradicate poverty, and I feel like education is at the root of it all.
I try to put as little stuff into my hair as I can, which tends to be the best for it.
People tell me the 50s are the best time - I'm ready! That whole stigma of being over 40 and not being sexy anymore is fake news. We're more vibrant because we have experience; we know our bodies.
Just drawing on my own experience, I never - I never - personally reference myself as old. I don't think of myself as old, but I certainly would not say that to a man.
I was thrilled when I heard about the Time's Up campaign's legal defense fund for women who've experienced harassment and sexism. I'd been longing for this movement to extend beyond Hollywood.
'Beatriz' has been a slow burn; people are still finding the movie. It's actually similar to the first few years of 'Friday Night Lights.'
My twin sister, my cousin, and I used to write and perform plays for my family. We raided the closets for costumes and fought over parts. I'm sure I was the bossiest one.
In terms of 'American Horror Story' and 'Nashville,' what attracted me to those, and 'Friday Night Lights,' for that matter, is that they felt like something innovative and something that we hadn't seen before. As an actor, that's exciting.
I think that sense of humor is important in marriage. A sense of humor gets people through marriage.
A definite highlight was doing 'The Brothers McMullen.' Shooting that movie was such a joy - and then we wound up winning the Sundance Film Festival. That big-break moment is visceral. It happens once in a decade, maybe once in a lifetime.
I grew up singing. My mother was a music teacher.
There are so many women out there who are single moms, really not by choice, and doing it and making it work every day. I think it's becoming much more a part of our culture and I hope that it will become more accepted and that those women are going to be more and more appreciated, respected and supported.
