Connie Britton

Although best known as an actress, Connie Britton has also had some success as a singer due to her role as Rayna Jaymes (a fictional country singer struggling to navigate the back-end tipping point of her career) on the ABC television series Nashville. Born Constance Elaine Womack in Boston on March 6, 1967, she attended high school in Lynchburg, Virginia, then went on to earn a degree from Dartmouth College, majoring in Asian studies. After graduating, she moved to New York City, where she spent two years studying with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and then another couple years working in off-Broadway productions before moving to Los Angeles, where she began to see work on several television shows, including Spin City and 24. Her first big break came when she was cast as Tami Taylor, the coach's wife, in NBC's Friday Night Lights (she also played the same role in the preceding movie version). By 2012, she was starring as Rayna Jaymes in the television series Nashville, a role that required her to sing in most episodes, which in turn led to a rapidly emerging recording career for her on the side. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi