Connie Britton Applauds 'Nashville' Costar Hayden Panettiere for 'Doing a Lot of Work on Herself' to Get Sober

Connie Britton , 57, is thrilled her Nashville costar Hayden Panettiere , 35, is in a good place.

"I'm so happy that she is in that place, and I hope she's in a great place," Britton said in a conversation with People .

The 9-1-1 actress expressed that she "really applaud[s] how Panettiere "has gone through a really difficult time and done a lot of work and has come out on the other side."

According to Britton, they have not seen each other "in a while," but she still expressed her support for Panettiere's upcoming film Amber Alert, a gripping thriller that follows a group of friends on a road trip, whose journey takes a tense turn when they receive an Amber Alert for a kidnapped child.

"And so I only wish her just peace in her heart, and I can't wait to see the movie," the Dear Edward alum mentioned.

In 2019, Britton told Us Weekly that she had no idea of her colleague's struggles as they "haven’t really been in a strong connection since the show ended."

“I, honestly — I’m not super aware of what’s going on,” Britton shared. “I’ve heard little bits and pieces. I try to just stick to the things that I hear from people I trust.”

The Heroes actress, who played Juliette Barnes in Nashville, felt like her character hit too close to home.

"I felt like I was acting out my own life," she confessed. "Straight from the beginning, it was like, I'm dating a football player , [and then] Juliette dates a football player. And then they turned her into an alcoholic ."

"Then they turned to her leaving her daughter and going to this crazy [place] in Europe, and it was very obvious," said Panettiere, who gave up her daughter's custody as she battled with alcohol and opioid addiction.

The mother-of-one expressed her frustration with the show by saying, "They weren't doing their homework. They weren't creating new storylines."

"They were just looking at my life and going, 'Oh, let's just take what she's going through and put our little spin on it.' And then, ta-da! It's done and done," she continued.

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Ultimately, the Scream 4 star is grateful for getting to play Juliette even if it was a challenging time.

"I look back at it with curiosity more than anything," the actress said. "If I hadn't had done that — if I hadn't accepted Nashville and had all that time to be involved with other projects — then where would I be now?"

"I don't even think on a soap opera that I cried as much [as I did] on Nashville, " she added.