‘Nashville’ Star Connie Britton Will Be In A New TV Show

Connie Britton is returning to television after departing “Nashville” earlier this year. She’ll appear on Showtime’s new comedy “SMILF,” but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a Rayna Jaymes-sized role.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Britton signed on for a “sizable role,” but it looks like a supporting character. “SMILF” follows a single 20-something from Boston name Bridgette (Frankie Shaw) who is dealing with the dating world but also struggling with being a single mom. Rosie O’Donnell will play Bridgette’s mother while Britton will appear in several episodes as Bridgette’s boss, Ally.

It sounds like Ally has some issues with employee boundaries. Bridgette is tutoring Ally’s kids, but it seems Ally will be trying to get a lot of personal info out of the young woman.

Some of Britton’s fans might be surprised that she decided to return to TV already. Her character Rayna Jaymes was killed off “Nashville” earlier this year after the actress chose to depart the CMT drama. After getting into a car accident, the character suffered fatal complications. “Nashville” has continued without the leading lady, instead focusing on the husband and children she left behind. Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) has gotten more screen time in the back half of the season as well. The show will continue focusing on Rayna’s loved ones when it returns to CMT in Season 6.

The actress didn’t specify all her reasons for leaving, but part of it seemed to be that she was a little burned out after doing 22 episodes a year for so long.

“Honestly, I’m going to take a little rest, if such a thing is possible,” Britton told TVLine after her departure in February. “I’ve been doing network TV for 10 years straight without a break. And I adopted my son five years into it… But I also love to work. There are a couple of film things coming up that I’m excited about. In terms of TV, I’m very open to whatever comes around.”

“SMILF” seems far less time consuming than “Nashville” likely was for Britton. She’ll be a guest star on the series, so she won’t be in all of the episodes. The first season is also only 10 half-hour episodes.

The “Friday Night Lights” alum has been keeping quite busy since hanging up Rayna’s microphone. In April, she voiced a character on “American Dad!,” but she’s mostly been making her mark on the big screen recently. She was in the awkward dinner party dramedy “Beatriz at Dinner” with Salma Hayek and John Lithgow in June.

This fall, she’ll appear in “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” the story of William Moulton Marston’s polyamorous relationship and the creation of Wonder Woman. Britton will also appear in the drama “The Land of Steady Habits,” the story of a newly retired man who leaves all the comforts of his average life behind for “freedom.”

Though it doesn’t seem like she’ll be returning to “Nashville” any time soon, it looks like Connie Britton fans have plenty of new movies and TV shows to look forward to watching.