Yesterday at the TCA Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, CA, the cast and producers of ABC’s new show Nashville hit the stage to talk about their series, which premieres Wednesday, October 10 at 10PM (ET/PT). The show has some very familiar faces like Connie Britton, Eric Close, and Hayden Panettiere, and before we cover what they had to talk about, here’s the description of the series courtesy of ABC:
Music legend and entertainment icon Rayna Jaymes has been one of the industry’s top female vocalists for two decades. After working tirelessly to elevate her game, Rayna suddenly discovers her passion for the business is not enough to compete with the new generation of talent lighting up the charts. She is reluctant to accept the emerging trend in the business and refuses to be steamrolled by her longtime label, which she helped build. When they give her an offer she can’t refuse, Rayna is forced to accept the harsh reality that she’ll have to start over and reinvent herself if she plans on being relevant.
Offstage things aren’t much easier for Rayna, whose father, Lamar Wyatt, is Nashville’s most powerful businessman. Their distant relationship is strained by years of resentment and powerful secrets that begin to boil over when Lamar and her sister, Tandy, encourage Rayna’s husband, Teddy, to run for office. For Teddy Conrad, this might be his time to share the spotlight instead of being the man behind the woman. For years he’s competed against Rayna’s greatest love… her music. He’s been haunted by her romantic entanglements, which he thought were buried in the past, but now his choice to align himself with her father could send Rayna running back into the arms of her soul mate.
Juliette Barnes is sexy, sassy, and she’s got trouble written all over her. She’s the hottest act in the business and she’s not about to let anyone stand in the way of her success, much less Rayna James. On her way to the top, an even bigger set of circumstances will cast a shadow on her girl-next-door image. But Juliette is calculating, has an insatiable appetite for fame, and will do whatever it takes to leave her hard knocks past behind. Everyone in Nashville has a dream: Deacon Claybourne is the band leader whose unrequited love is constantly played out in the lyrics of familiar songs; Scarlett O’Connor is the beautiful undiscovered songwriter; Avery Barkley is a young misguided musician; and Gunnar Scott is an up and comer on a collision course with Scarlett.
“Nashville” stars Connie Britton (“Friday Night Lights,” “American Horror Story”) as Rayna Jaymes, Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) as Juliette Barnes, Powers Boothe (“MacGruber,” “24”) as Lamar Wyatt, Charles Esten (“Enlightened,” “Big Love”) as Deacon Claybourne, Eric Close (“Chaos,” “Without a Trace”) as Teddy Conrad, Clare Bowen as Scarlett O’Connor, Jonathan Jackson (“General Hospital”) as Avery Barkley, Sam Palladio as Gunnar Scott and Robert Wisdom as Coleman Carlisle.
R.J. Cutler (“The September Issue,” “The War Room,” “A Perfect Candidate”), Callie Khouri (“Thelma & Louise”), James D. Parriott (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Grey’s Anatomy”) and Steve Buchanan are executive producers of “Nashville.” The pilot was written by Callie Khouri and directed by R.J. Cutler. The series is produced by Lionsgate, ABC Studios and Gaylord Entertainment. “Nashville” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.
Although shows set in Nashville have been tried and may not have done so well in the past, creator Callie Khouri said that she thinks this was “the right time” for a show like Nashville. “I think there’s a great love of music and shows in the last few years, and so I think audiences are really accepting and actually really hungry for great music. We’re going to be having a lot of original music, and it’s not just in the country world. It’s kind of a lot of crossover in pop and a really wide range of music. I think that also helped us. We’re not in a narrow “country music fans only” will like it,” she says.
Hayden Panettiere, who is one of the show’s leads, suggests that she thinks “it’s the right writer” that makes it work.
Executive Producer R.J. Cutler also praised the series’ creator. “Callie wouldn’t say it, maybe, but when you have somebody whose voice is so authentic and who knows Nashville so well and who can nail it so accurately, you’re going to have a show that people really respond to, that can attract a cast like this, and hopefully viewers will love watching,” he says.
Many questions were directed at Panettiere and Connie Britton, who were well known for their roles on Heroes (for Panettiere) and Friday Night Lights and American Horror Story (for Britton). As such, they were asked to compare those past experiences to this new one. “It’s almost like our shows previously, I know they were not the same, but they were in the same vein of sci‑fi in a way,” Hayden says. “Both were grounded, different stories, different shows, but I mean, I was dealing with CGI for four years of my life, ten months out of the year. It was a very large part of my life for years. You can’t really compare them. That’s the great thing about this industry and what I love about being an actor is that every project, you hope, is different and every character, you hope, is different, and everywhere you get to go and the people you meet and the people you get to work with. That’s what keeps us, at least me, so interested in what I do,” she says.
“What attracted me about both of those [shows] is that they both felt like something innovative and something that we haven’t seen before, and as an actor, that’s exciting. And my hope is that Nashville will be that, too, and I think it will. And as an actor, I always want to stretch myself and do something that I haven’t done before. From American Horror Story to Nashville is a plenty big stretch,” Britton says.
Both of the actresses will have a chance to explore a musical side on the show, which is also new and different all at the same time. “I recorded an album when I was younger from about 15 to 19, something like that, and in that period of time, I just was so ever‑changing as a person, and I think music really reflects who you are as a person, so you’re really putting yourself out there. And I quit after about four or five years of recording, and I said this is not me. But I said that if I was ever going to do music again, I would do country music, and for this to come along and to get both of the things I love combined in one show, it’s a dream come true. Really. And I don’t mean that in a cliche way,” Hayden says.
“I would say actually for me it’s a dream come true, too, because as an actor to have the opportunity to stretch my muscles in this way, you know. I have sung my whole life, but not really that professionally,” Connie adds. “Not really professionally at all. And so it’s very ‑‑ but as an actor to be able to work with the best, the best writer and the best music producer, that’s also a dream come true.”
Nashville premieres Wednesday, October 10 on ABC. Here are some images from the show, and be sure to come back to KSiteTV for more Fall 2012 ABC previews!
127950_0328
NASHVILLE - "Nashville" stars Connie Britton as Rayna, Hayden Panettiere as Juliette, Powers Boothe as Lamar, Charles Esten as Deacon, Eric Close as Teddy, Clare Bowen as Scarlett, Jonathan Jackson as Avery, Sam Palladio as Gunnar and Robert Wisdom as Coleman. "Nashville" was written by Callie Khouri who is an executive producer along with R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan. The pilot for "Nashville" was directed by R.J. Cutler. The series is produced by Lionsgate, ABC Studios and Gaylord Entertainment. (ABC/CRAIG SJODIN) CHARLES ESTEN
