Keeping it Scary: How Connie Britton Challenges Herself Regardless of Genre
Britton adds another thriller to her growing list of horror projects in ‘Here After’, but the diverse performer tells FilmSpeak, she always wants to feel a little fear when choosing work.
Connie Britton has always represented herself with dignity and class, whether she’s singing her heart out in ‘Nashville’, or screaming bloody murder with mascara streaming from her eyes in any one of the numerous horror projects she’s done. As she sits on the other end of the virtual call, she is as you would expect, poised, warm, dignified, and worthy of the multiple accolades regarding her hair.
Britton, over her nearly 30 year career has been touched by success regardless of genre or format. She began her career in the long running sitcom ‘Spin City’, starred in underrated comedic films with killer ensembles such as ‘This is Where I Leave You’, and has recently become a trailblazer by starring in the groundbreaking first seasons of ‘American Horror Story’ and HBO’s ‘White Lotus’, both of which have become cultural phenomenon. Britton, who is no stranger to Emmy nominations, received accolades for those latter two roles as well, proving the actress can successfully traverse genres whenever she chooses.
Those choices have led her to ‘Here After’, a supernatural thriller where Britton plays Claire, a divorcee living in Italy with her daughter, Robin (Freya Hannah-Mills). Robin is a teenaged musical prodigy, but cannot communicate verbally since a traumatic incident in her youth. When Robin suffers a near-death experience, she comes back as a new person, and Claire suspects something dark may be influencing her daughter.
“One of the things that drew me to Here After was that it is connected to psychological trauma and redemption. As human beings, we are searching and yearning for redemption from our own traumas.” Britton reveals. She further describes why she’s been a fan off the thriller or horror genre throughout her career, but especially as of late. “I think that certainly in the horror and thriller genre, it's a great opportunity to be able to tell stories around our trauma”.
Here After, specifically, has a clever touch of subtext regarding what teenagers and their parents go through when those tricky teens begin to lose that childlike innocence. A lot of parents see behavior out of their ‘babies’ that can be quite shocking, as teens traverse the rocky waters of pubescence, something that Britton as a Mom recognizes all too well. Britton’s son Yoby only recently turned 13, and the star clearly knows that she is only starting what promises to be a wild roller coaster ride. When this subtext was addressed, Britton audibly cheered, as this was an aspect of the film that attracted her to the story, and had given some thought to.
“I loved the connective tissue of being a mom and all of this trauma that she had, that had built up in her life. As I was shooting the movie, my son wasn't quite a teenager yet, but I was certainly recognizing the theme of just how insane it is as a parent to see your child completely change that it can literally send you over the edge” Britton laughs. “So I think thematically, that is such a resonant part of the movie, even as much as the movie is linked to substantial trauma, and loss, and pain, and grief”
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As if pretending to fear the supernatural, murders or Freddy Kruger (Britton was also in the 2010 remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street), or the real life nightmare of raising a teenager wasn’t enough, Britton apparently eats fear for breakfast.
“Every time I choose a role to play, there has to be something about it that scares me,” Britton admits. “Something about it has to be outside my comfort zone, and sometimes that takes different forms. In the case of Nashville, I had to sing. I really challenged myself a lot on that one.”
Britton was asked if after these harrowing experiences, whether it’s being covered in fake blood in American Horror Story, having to do water stunts in Here After, or facing the crowds of Country fans in Nashville, if there’s ever been a project that stuck out. Was there one specific project that when completed, made her feel that she could easily take on anything. While she couldn’t really pinpoint one, she admits, there are several projects that made her feel that way. “I wanted to do the scary things. Now, afterwards, I'm thinking to myself, ’I did that’. I don't know that I ever want to do that again, but I did it, and it’s always a nice feeling of accomplishment about that.“
Fear can be a funny thing as well. Almost literally. If you consider some of the truly stellar ensembles and acting partners Britton has had in her career, the thrill of improvisation sneaks in there quite a bit. For a lot of actors, going off script can be terrifying. For Britton, it seems like just another walk in the park. She co-starred with Charles Esten in Nashville, who prior to that show was best known for his work in Whose Line is it Anyway?, which bred the man to relish acting outside the box. Britton’s Friday Night Lights partner, Kyle Chandler and she used to constantly improvise to give their on-screen dynamic a level of authenticity, as well. Finally, in terms of comedy, the casts of Spin City and This is Where I Leave You are jam-packed with some of the greatest comedic performers of the last 30 years.
Britton remembers the aforementioned This is Where I Leave You with great fondness. “I'm always completely awestruck and inspired by comedic improvisers who just keep going and going and going. It's incredible. [When] I worked with Jason Bateman and Tina Fey, among others, everybody in the cast was brilliant, and watching them work was just always such a joy.”
Her next project, Winner, is a jocular look at the Reality Winner story that made headlines not that long ago. Winner was the whistleblower who leaked NSA secrets surrounding Russian election interference. The story has already been adapted a couple times, but Winner promises to be more irreverent. Britton stars as Billie Winner, Reality’s mother, alongside well-known comedian Zack Galifianakis, as well as Kathryn Newton as Brittany Winner and Emilia Jones in the title role. While Britton has been able to hold her own with those actors who are known for their comedy, it must have been another nerve-wracking experience acting opposite the adorable jovial Newton and funny-man Galifianakis.
But as we’ve come to learn, throughout Britton’s career, the one consistent co-star has been fear.