returns

Why Connie Britton Came Back to Nashville for the Series Finale

Rayna’s (sort of) back! Photo: Mark Levine/CMT

TV’s years-long, network-jumping, very-soapy country music saga Nashville couldn’t end without bringing back the queen of hair herself, Connie Britton. In the show’s series finale, it briefly resurrected Britton’s character Rayna after her death for a flashback scene where Deacon (Charles Esten) remembers a conversation the two had before their wedding. According to TVLine, Britton was hesitant to return “Because I thought, Rayna’s gone. And I don’t like the idea of having her come back as a ghost.†But she was sold on the idea after hearing about creator Callie Khouri’s other part of the pitch, which involved a series-ending, fourth-wall-breaking singalong with everyone in the cast (including Britton) and Khouri herself. “Then she told me about the last moment on the Ryman stage, and I loved the idea of that. So we made it happen,†Britton said. To do so, Nashville had to schedule around Britton’s shooting schedule for Dirty John, but she was thrilled to make it all work. It “felt just like picking up right where we’d left off,†Britton told TVLine. “It just all came back.â€

Why Connie Britton Came Back for the Nashville Series Finale