Hayden Panettiere explores the "deeply uncomfortable" dynamic between her and Nashville costar Connie Britton in her new book, This Is Me: A Reckoning.
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"This should have been her time to shine, and while it was in many respects, I was terrified of making Connie worry that I — not my character — was trying to compete with her," Panettiere recalls.
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This Is Me: A Reckoning is now available to purchase wherever books are sold.
Fans enjoyed the contentious rivalry betweenHayden Panettiere's Juliette Barnes andConnie Britton's Rayna James on the musical melodramaNashville, but it was a dynamic that Panettiere worried would bleed into real life.
Reflecting on her timestarring opposite Britton on the drama—which aired six seasons on ABC and then CMT, from 2012-2018 — in her recently released memoir,This Is Me: A Reckoning, Panettiere recalls how a shift in star power led to her feeling "uncomfortable" with the fictional tension between the show's lead characters.
"My character wasn't intended to be the show's star — not even close," Panettiere writes. "That honor went to Connie, whose Rayna Jaymes was in the twilight of her career, facing a dramatic turning point thanks to yours truly. Juliette wasn't necessarily Rayna's enemy, but she was the antagonist. I threatened Rayna's career, but I was never supposed to outshine her. That was the whole point."
Panettiere, who was only 22 when she landed the role as the troubled, talented, and fiercely stubborn Juliette, wryly notes that "women of a certain age in any entertainment sector can tell you that championing a twentysomething blond, bubblegum star over an older, more established veteran is a bad idea."
"Rayna Jaymes had earned her stripes, and Juliette hadn't. That was the way it was supposed to be," she adds. "Unfortunately, after the pilot, it was clear that my billing had gone way up. I went from maybe number five in terms of importance to nipping at Connie's heels. I was deeply uncomfortable with this development."
The actress had already spent two decades on screen when she began working the musical series. She'd joined the core cast of the soap operaOne Life to Liveat only four years old, and worked steadily through stints onGuiding Light,Heroes, and films likeIce PrincessandRemember the TitanswhenNashvillecreator Callie Khouri came calling.
"I was twenty-three years old, and Connie was in her forties with three Emmy nominations under her belt," Panettiere recalls in the memoir of filming Season 1. "She was also a new mom. This should have been her time to shine, and while it was in many respects, I was terrified of making Connie worry that I—not my character—was trying to compete with her."
She revealed that while filming the show's promo material, she used small opportunities to show Britton that there wasn't any desire to undermine her position on the show. "We were directed to saunter toward the mic stand and—at the same time—reach to grab it. This would insinuate our characters' rivalry," Panettiere explains. "I always made sure to grab the mic under Connie's hand, showing her I came in peace and with respect."
"I don't know if she noticed, but I did; I was not going to step on the toes of Rayna Jaymes or Connie Britton," she adds.
Panettiere's echoed a similar sentimentwhile chatting withEntertainment Weeklylast year, in honor of the show kicking off its second life on Netflix.
"I remember the first scene that I ever did with her. It was in [Nashville's Ryman Auditorium], the backstage of the Ryman, and Rayna comes in and says something nice to me, and I am just so passive-aggressive to her," Panettiere told EWat the time.
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Panettiere remembered that after the bristling encounter—their first ever onandoff camera —she "kept apologizing to her, going, 'I am so sorry!' Because that was our first experience together, and I didn't want to step on toes. Sometimes it gets real, very real, you know?'"
She explained that whileNashvillewas originally designed as a solo vehicle for the Rayna character, when producers saw the enthusiastic response to Panettiere as the brash, nakedly ambitious Juliette, the show was retconned around the character's contentious rivalry as star signees of the same label.
"It was difficult to play that sometimes, that competitiveness, where we were in opposition and against each other," Panettiere remembered. "And it's not what we thought it was going to be, so it was very difficult to step in." But she remembered Britton as "amazing" and "so supportive."
The actress added that "Connie is just a class act. She is so smart and so wise, and just being able to be on screen with her, I was honored. I think we kept each other grounded throughout the whole thing."
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Panettiere has been opening up about her tumultuous journey from child star inThis Is Me,which takes the reader through the actress' childhood, including her parents’ rocky relationship andher venture into acting. (Panettiere and her motherare currently estranged.)
The book details her decision to sign over full custody of daughter Kaya to ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko in 2018 and her abusiverelationship with ex Brian Hickerson— but she says the hardest part of the process was writing abouther brother, Jansen, whodied in 2023at age 28. Jansen battled his own substance abuse issues, with Panettiere pleading for him to get help after he confessed that he tried crack and heroin.
Reflecting on her decision to share her story with fans in her memoirto EW earlier this month, Panettiere emphasized that the purpose of the book is to help others.
“I really hope that by reading about the trials and tribulations that I've gone through, that it can help [readers] overcome their own obstacles and make sure that they know that they're not alone, because that's the worst feeling in the world — especially when you're going through a trying time — is to feel alone,” Panettiere said. “All you want to know is that somebody else has gone through and survived what you're going through right now, and even though in the moment it feels like you'll never be okay again. But I also hope people laugh through it as well. I think there's a good balance.”
She concluded, “If I had told every single solitary story, the book would be five 300-page books.”
This Is Me: A Reckoningis out now.
Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly