Connie Britton

Connie Britton (born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. She portrayed "Vivien Harmon" on American Horror Story. She is best known for her roles as "Nikki Faber" on Spin City and "Tami Taylor" on Friday Night Lights (a TV series based on the film of the same name, which she also acted in). Her most notable films are Friday Night Lights (she portrayed "Sharon Gaines") and A Nightmare on Elm Street (she portrayed "Gwen", Nancy's mother), among other works. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010-2011 for her role as "Tami Taylor" in the Friday Night Lights television series. She currently portrays "Rayna Jaymes" in the Nashville television series.

Background

Britton (born Constance Womack) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Linda and Allen Womack, who was a physicist. She moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, with her parents and sister, Cynthia, when she was seven. Britton attended E.C. Glass High School, majored in Asian Studies at Dartmouth College, and after graduating, moved to New York City and spent two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse, studying with Sanford Meisner. Britton is divorced, but still uses her married name as her stage name. On November 16, 2011, she revealed that she had adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia, named Eyob, whom she calls "Yoby".

Connie Britton on her role as Vivien Harmon

"American Horror Story has been such a great choice because It’s so different and I’m flexing such completely different muscles as an actor."
On saying yes to American Horror Story: It was presented to Britton by co-creator Ryan Murphy, as: ‘This is something we’ve never seen you do before. It will be turning what you’ve just been doing on its ear.’ I was intrigued by that and I thought it was such a fun opportunity to do exactly that and when I read the script, I was like, ‘how does this work?’ It felt like a big risk. As an actor it’s really important to take risks but that’s also what keeps you up at night. When you take risks, you can definitely fail.”^[1]

Notes

Connie Britton is the first of few starring cast member to have appeared in one season only.
- She would be followed by Joesph Fiennes, Lizzie Brocheré, Michael Chiklis, André Holland, and Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Connie Britton has worked with three other cast members on another Ryan Murphy show, American Crime Story. Those cast members being Cuba Gooding, Jr., Sarah Paulson and 9-1-1 with Angela Bassett.