Connie Britton on Reuniting With Jason Katims for ‘Dear Edward’: “I Was Just So Happy”

Connie Britton has spent the last few decades constructing the sort of career that an actor would be proud to call their own, having started in film with The Brothers McMullen, soon after which she carved a niche for herself on the small screen as a series regular on Spin City. Since then, she’s been consistently securing gigs in both mediums, but she definitely found a career-defining role in 2006 when she teamed with – among others – executive producer Jason Katims to play Tami Taylor on NBC’s Friday Night Lights. Since then, Britton found further small-screen success with projects ranging from American Horror Story to Nashville to The White Lotus, but now she’s shifted gears and jumped over to a streaming service to star in the Apple TV+ series Dear Edward, where she’s once again working with the aforementioned Mr. Katims. 

Decider managed to secure a few minutes of Britton’s very precious time when she was at the Television Critics Association‘s Winter Press Tour in Pasadena last month, during which time she discussed her reunion with Katims, the surprising glee she’s getting from playing a tragic part, her nickname for her former Spin City co-star Richard Kind, and how Edward Burns’ boldness helped kickstart his career as well as hers.

Decider: So how great was it for you to reunite with Jason Katims?

Connie Britton: Oh, so great. Actually, more great than I could’ve imagined, for all the reasons that I thought it would be great. But Friday Night Lights… That show, for me, really set the bar on a lot of levels in terms of what I love creatively, what I value creatively. And then you go outward, and there are various other experiences, and I was trying to, like, hold that level of the things I care about, and sometimes you get there, and sometimes you don’t. But when Jason called, I was just so happy. You know, it’s like hearing from a family member.

And then he told me about this character, and it just made me feel glee from the first moment he started talking about it. And he was so collaborative and respectful with me about it. And then the experience of shooting it was… Well, the thing about him and about the way he works is that it’s really respectful. And that just trickles down through the entire cast and crew, through every person involved in the production. It’s this level of respect and this level of care for what you’re doing and intention for what you’re doing. And that is just a wonderful circumstance to be a part of. So it was everything and more that I could’ve hoped for.

As a father who’s getting ready to fly home to his wife and daughter, I feel like I should have an enigmatic text locked and ready to send, just in case.

I know, right? [Laughs.] But not too enigmatic. Let’s keep it real straightforward. Oh, my gosh, yeah…

I love the way that we kind of see Dee Dee unraveling the mystery about her husband as we simultaneously see her unraveling.

Me, too! That’s what I loved about it! And especially the kind of person that she was. For me, as an actor, that’s why I was so drawn to playing that role. I loved this bigness. She kind of created this persona in her life that was so… It was just kind of unbreakable. And she was living it and loving it. But she wasn’t really living the truth of her life. I always think it’s fascinating to explore characters who are breaking apart and having to discuss themselves for who they really are. It takes a lot of courage to do that, and we all have various catalysts that create that for us in our lives if we have that experience. 

But sometimes it means that there’s no other way to break through than to blow your life up, or have your life blown up. And in Dee Dee’s case, that was what had to happen. She had to suffer this incredible loss to get to the truth of her life. And to me, I love universal themes, and I feel like that’s something that people can connect to, whether it’s through their own grief or their own journey of self-discovery. Because when you’re going through a real experience of self-discovery, you have to let something go. You have to grieve in order to move through to the next place. So…I don’t know, it was just really fun to be able to go down that road with Dee Dee.

I’m most of the way through the fourth episode, thanks to the advance screeners Apple TV+ provided, and I love the way the relationship with Linda changes and the way you can see it with the way Dee Dee reacts to her.

Yeah, I know. And that’s the other thing about this show: it’s really about people finding community out of need. And we all do that. If we’re fortunate enough as humans, we find our community that can lift us up and guide us. And every person that we have in that community will affect who we become. So I think that this show demonstrates that really well. Sort of unlikely bedfellows, you know? 

I wanted to ask you about a few other things in your back catalog. I’m a fan of your work with Ed Burns, but I was wondering about the secret origin of that collaboration. How did you first cross paths with him?

Eddie Burns? Oh, I mean, I was just a struggling actress in New York, I didn’t have an agent, I was pounding the pavement, and I answered an ad in Backstage. It was for this little movie. I did it every week: I sent out headshots to people that I never heard from again and stood in long lines to audition. I didn’t even remember sending out my headshot for this one, but they called and said, “Hey, will you come in and audition for this movie?” And I almost didn’t even go, because I was actually out of town visiting my sister that weekend, but I showed up dragging my suitcase, coming straight from Penn Station, and went to this audition. So I auditioned for this kid, and he chased after me and was, like, “Hey! I want you to play the part!” And I was, like, “Oh, boy, this is really gonna be bad.” [Laughs.] And that was The Brothers McMullen!

And Eddie was just a struggling filmmaker. He was working on Entertainment Tonight, and so we would just shoot whenever he had the money and the film stock. And sometimes… [Lowers voice.] Sometimes he would, like, swipe film stock from Entertainment Tonight! And then we would shoot a scene. So it took forever to shoot the movie, because we would just do it whenever we could get together and do it. And then Robert Redford was on Entertainment Tonight when Eddie was working on it, and he had the movie in his backpack, and he hands it over to Robert Redford and said, “Mr. Redford, I’m an independent filmmaker. Will you watch our movie?” And I’ve since talked to Redford about this, and he was, like, “I hate doing that interview stuff, and I don’t know why I took this kid’s movie, but I went and watched it, and that’s what I wanted Sundance to be.” So the movie got into Sundance, and then it won the Grand Jury Prize, and that was it. And that was really the big break for me. That was the beginning of my career, but it was for Eddie, too. That was really his big break as well.

From your days working on Spin City, do you have a favorite Richard Kind story?

[Launches into a Richard Kind impression.] Oh, God, Richard Kind. I like to call him “Bitchard.” [Laughs.] Do I have a favorite? I mean, we had so many crazy stories. And by the way, that was so long ago. How dare you ask me? I can’t remember anything, except that I love Richard Kind. I loved every person on that show. That was really the first TV show I ever did as a regular, and that cast taught me how to be an actor on television, truly. But I really, really love Richard. We got to work together more recently on Bombshell, so it was nice to see him again. He’s the mayor of all things.

How did you enjoy the experience of having Jason Mantzoukas as your husband (in Conception)?

Oh, God. [Laughs.] That was such a funny thing! That was, like, our friends’ movie, and it was just such a kooky thing. That’s funny. I barely even remember that!

Lastly, do you have a favorite project that you’ve worked on over the years that didn’t get the love you thought it deserved?

Um… [Long pause.] You know what? The movie This Is Where I Leave You. I loved that movie. I loved the book so much, and I loved the process of making the movie, and I love the movie so much. Everybody in the movie was so incredible. And I kind of thought it was going to be a bigger hit than it was. But you just never know. You can’t predict those things. But I did love that one. 

Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He’s currently working on a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)