It was all the drama and great country music that kept fans watching Nashville for six seasons. But according to star Hayden Panettiere, who played rising star Juliette Barnes on the show, working on the show was "far from" what she expected.
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The actress delves into her experiences behind the scenes of the hit show in her new memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. She shared an excerpt with Rolling Stone.
Hayden Panettiere Thought the "Nashville" Cast Would All Be Friends
Before appearing on Nashville, Panettiere was on the hit Heroes. That show proved to be a launching pad for several stars, including Panettiere, and the cast was close.
Expecting a similar camaraderie to her time on Heroes, Panettiere shared with her best friend and assistant, Allie, that she "thought we'd all be friends. You know, cast, crew, directors, all one big happy family. But it's not like that at all."
Panettiere said that "the opposite happened."
"The entire cast and crew scattered," she explained. "For example, Connie went home to her son, and Charles Esten, who played country musician Deacon Claybourne, drove away to spend the weekend with his wife and three kids."
Panettiere Did Bond With One Cast Member
While Panettiere "couldn't figure out" why the cast didn't bond during Nashville's six-season run, she did find a friend in co-star Jonathan Jackson. He played singer-songwriter Avery Barklet on the show.
"He lived with his wife, Lisa, and their kids about twenty miles south of Nashville in Franklin — a town that's home to dozens of country music stars —and they sometimes invited me over for dinner," she said. "Not wanting to make the long drive home, I often crashed in their guest room, grateful for a warm bed and a good friend who'd offered it to me."
But Panettiere's experiences on the show were not entirely negative. When asked last year if she would revisit the show, she replied, "Absolutely!"
Still, Panettiere expressed uncertainty about what a Nashville reboot might be like.
"I'd have to sit with that question for a second, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it," the actress said. "I've been on shows where the first season was amazing and then the second season really wasn't up to snuff. I feel like Nashville stayed very steady throughout the entire six years, and the storylines just continued to get juicier and juicier. They never ran out of material."
