INDIANAPOLIS — Beloved actress Connie Britton has five Primetime Emmy nominations for her roles as Tami Taylor ("Friday Night Lights"), Rayna James ("Nashville"), Vivien Harmon ("American Horror Story: Murder House") and Nicole Mossbacher ("The White Lotus").
Her next two roles in feature films – which coincidentally come out on the same day, Sept. 13 – center on motherhood in very different aspects.
In "Here After," Britton plays a mother, who is thrilled when her daughter (Freya Hannan-Mills) is miraculously revived after a tragic accident; however, her relief turns to dread when she notices unusual changes in her daughter.
"It's a woman and her daughter's journey into the supernatural," Britton said. "It's a real exploration into what it is to be a mother experiencing and exploring pain and guilt."
And if you're watching "Here After" and reminiscing to Britton's role in "American Horror Story," you're not alone.
"Both are mom roles and both were definitely dealing with the supernatural. I would say in looking at both, there were so many differences between those two roles, but there's something about when I'm looking at playing a world that is going into the supernatural, it's about finding the groundedness within that," Britton said. "The more grounded you are in the real world, the more the supernatural world can really come to life."
In "Here After," Britton is tasked with speaking English, Italian and sign language — the latter two which she had no prior experience with.
"That was a steep learning curve for me but also a great one," Britton said.
In "Winner," Britton plays the mother of Reality Winner (Emilia Jones), who comes across government secrets regarding Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election — and yes, this dark dramedy is based on a true story.
"That's a fascinating story. That was a movie I felt like I really had to to do because Reality's experience was really such a moment in our history, and she really got caught up in a lot of what was happening in our history in that moment," Britton said. "I learned a lot from being able to speak to Billie, who really was her advocate throughout that experience and harrowing journey."
It comes as no surprise "Winner," which debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, is coming out as we are weeks away from the next presidential election.
"We've definitely, in these last 10 or 12 years, been through a real shift in our culture, and this is one of the things we can do as filmmakers — we are able to reflect what's happening, reflect our history and our culture back to us," Britton said. "It always feels like an honor to be able to tell those stories."
"Here After" and "Winner" will be in select theaters and available digitally Friday, Sept. 13.