The amazing Connie Britton appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last week to promote the season premiere of Friday Night Lights. She's so smart and funny. Here's the interview with Connie, the actress who plays Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights, as she talks about the show and her humble beginnings.
The second season of Friday Night Lights is underway, and Kyle Chandler, who plays Coach Eric Taylor, and Connie Britton, who plays Tami Taylor, stopped by the Today show on Friday to discuss. The pair sat also down with MSNBC to talk about their on-camera marriage, their off-camera relationship and their favorite characters on the acclaimed show. Here's the interview.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MSNBC: One of the strengths of Friday Night Lights that everyone points to is your marriage... critics have called it the most realistic portrayal of marriage on television. So what's your relationship like off camera... and how do you reach the point where you can present this realistic portrait of marriage?
Connie Britton: [looking at Kyle] Be careful.
Kyle Chandler: This is one of the first roles I've had of being married and having children since I've been married and had children. So that's 12 years now. So I have a wealth of information to bring into this as a husband and father. One of my responsibilities I have is telling my wife what to do, so with Connie, I tell her what to do and everything works fine.
Connie Britton: [sarcastically] Yeah... you can believe that for sure. I, on the other hand, am not married and have never had children. So I'm obviously just an exceptional actress! [laughs]
Kyle Chandler: That was great! Oh my God! [high-fives Connie]
Connie Britton: I think we also got really lucky, because we wanted to play this marriage the same way. We both have the same ideas that we wanted a foundation, a partnership, a trust, and then the sky's the limit from there. We both agreed on that and have been very stalwart about that. And we just end up really having a good time together. So it works out.
MSNBC: What kind of things do you talk about off camera?
Connie Britton: You know, he complains about being away from his family. I never complain, I just listen.
Kyle Chandler: Connie almost always has her nose in a book. [laughs] If not, she's always jogging or going to the gym.
Last week, we brought you pictures of three beautiful Friday Night Lights stars - Adrianne Palicki, Minka Kelly and Connie Britton - from InStyle magazine, which ran a feature on the trio entitled, fittingly, "Friday Night Hair."
They sure do have some nice hair, and here's the article that InStyle ran along with the photos. You can learn how to get their looks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the weekend arrives, it's time to let loose. And that goes for hair too. Here, the women of the NBC drama Friday Night Lights flirt with some of fall's freshest, most festive styles: polished retro waves, a tousled bob and soft, sexy volume.
Adrianne Palicki's tousled bob
In a world full of extensions, this cropped cut feels utterly fresh. "It's messy and sexy, and because it's short, it's easy and fast," says their stylist, Harry Josh.
It's also a nod to Adrianne Palicki's bad-girl role on Friday Night Lights, in which she plays Tyra Collette. "She exudes bombshell," he says.
How to get the Adrianne Palicki look
1. Josh spritzed Adrianne Palicki's dry roots with John Frieda Sheer Blonde Full-Blown Volumizing spray ($6; walgreens.com), then he used a tail comb to give the actress a side part so her hair would drape over one eye.
"Zigzag the part all the way back," he says. "It doesn't make sense to do a straight, clean part with a messy look. It's like an oxymoron."
2. To create seductive waves, Josh used a medium-barrel curling iron on 1- and 1½-inch sections of hair. He haphazardly twisted the iron in alternating directions and left the ends out for a rumpled, undone effect.
3. To finish, Josh asked Palicki to shake her head back and forth while he misted locks with L'Oréal Paris Elnett hairspray ($13; zitomer.com). The result, he says, is "a really glamorous, modern bob."
Minka Kelly's 1940s waves
To break away from the high school cheerleader she plays on the show, Minka Kelly, a natural blonde, swaps her high ponytail for a sultry retro set. "It takes a few systematic steps to achieve, but it's definitely the most glam," Josh says.
Three lovely ladies, three great hairstyles.
InStyle magazine calls its feature "Friday Night Hair" and profiles the trademark styles of Friday Night Lights stars Minka Kelly (who makes waves with her hair and her acting, below), Adrianne Palicki and Connie Britton.
Special thanks to Corrine, one of our readers, for scanning and emailing these photos from the magazine! Follow the jump for the rest ...
In anticipation of Season Two of Friday Night Lights, we're taking a closer look at each of the primary cast members, most of whom you probably do not know all that much about (and might like to).
Yesterday, we profiled the young talent that is Gaius Charles (Smash). It's time to go a little older today as we profile Connie Britton, who has received widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Tami Taylor.
Connie Britton (birth name Constance Womack) was born on March 6, 1968, in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was a child, her family (mom Linda, father Allen, and sister Cynthia) moved to Lynchburg, Virginia.
She majored in Asian Studies and spent a semester living in China while at Dartmouth College, where she graduated in 1989. Upon graduation she moved to N.Y. City, where she spent two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse studying with Sanford Meisner and two more years at off-Broadway theatres.
She moved to Los Angeles after the success of "The Brothers McMullen." She eventually got the role of Nikki Faber on ABC's Spin City, the Michael J. Fox comedy that won many awards from 1996-2000.
Connie Britton also starred in Lost at Home (2003), while her other TV credits include The Fighting Fitzgeralds with Brian Dennehy, a recurring role on The West Wing and a recurring role on 24, during its fifth season, as Diane Huxley, the landlady of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).
Interestingly, Connie played the wife of the head coach in the movie adaptation of Friday Night Lights before being cast in the TV series of the same name. Britton's character has a different name, Sharon Gaines, in the film.
Perhaps most amazingly, despite being known for her tremendous acting as the mother of teenager Julie (Aimee Teegarden), Britton, 39, has no children.
Connie is divorced, but still uses her married surname, Britton, as her stage name. Residing in New York and L.A., she likes hiking, yoga, and volunteering.
It's almost Emmy Awards week, which is great, except that perhaps the four best shows all year Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica, The Wire and The Shield accumulated a meager six nominations... total.
To correct this injustice, Entertainment Weekly presents The Gluttys, given to the most egregious Emmy snubs of the year. Let's take a look...
Best Series, Drama
The nominees: Battlestar Galactica, Friday Night Lights, The Shield, The Wire.
And the Glutty goes to... The Wire! It wasn't just the best drama of the year, it was perhaps the best drama of any year. An engrossing look at cops, crime, politics, and education, and how they intersect in ways we never imagined.
Best Actor, Drama
The nominees: Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), Eddie Izzard (The Riches), Ian McShane (Deadwood).
And the Glutty goes to... Kyle Chandler! Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! Except, apparently, when it comes to the Emmys. Indeed, Kyle Chandler's snub is mind-boggling to many.
Best Actress, Drama
The nominees: Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), Annabeth Gish (Brotherhood), Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica).
And the Glutty goes to... Annabeth Gish! As a cheating addict-politician's wife, Gish was last summer's biggest surprise. Well, second biggest, if you include Tuesday Night Book Club making it onto a network schedule.
Best Supporting Actor, Drama
The nominees: Jack Coleman (Heroes), Walton Goggins (The Shield), Gerald McRaney (Deadwood).
And the Glutty goes to... Walton Goggins! In a naked and raw performance (literally and figuratively), Goggins mesmerized as a cop haunted by his past.
Best Supporting Actress, Drama
The nominees: Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), CCH Pounder (The Shield), Sonja Sohn (The Wire).
And the Glutty goes to... Elizabeth Mitchell! Katherine Heigl over her? Really? As fertility doctor Juliet, Mitchell was savvy, intelligent and complex all the things that Emmy succeeds so well in overlooking.
October 1 (DirecTV)
All 13 episodes of Friday Night Lights Season 3 will air starting in October 2008 on DirecTV, then re-air in early 2009 on NBC!
Smash: I want you to come over for dinner tonight.
Tim: Are you askin' me on a date, Williams?
