‘Dear Edward’ star Connie Britton inspired by Jersey’s ‘Real Housewives’
Connie Britton reunites with “Friday Night Lights” creator Jason Katims for the new Apple TV+ drama series “Dear Edward.”
“You know, we go back,” Britton, 55, told The Post. “And ‘Friday Night Lights’ was such an important pivotal show for me [and] it set the bar really high in terms of what my values are and what I want to do creatively.
“Jason was a part of that. And now I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I just want to work with people that I love.”
“Dear Edward,” premiering Feb. 3, is based on a novel that follows Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien), a young boy who is the sole survivor of a plane that crashed in Colorado en route from New York to LA and also killed his parents and brother.
The series follows his recovery from the tragedy and his struggle to deal with his newfound fame — he’s made headlines everywhere — as well as the lives of other people who lost a loved one in the crash, including Dee Dee (Britton), a wealthy New Jersey mom and housewife who finds out that her husband had some shocking secrets; Edward’s aunt Lacey (Taylor Schilling), who is suddenly tasked with caring for her orphaned nephew after reeling from several miscarriages; activist Adriana (Anna Uzele), who lost her congresswoman grandmother; and piano tuner Amanda (Brittany S. Hall), who finds herself grieving her fiancé and connecting with his estranged brother, Steve (Ivan Shaw).
“Jason called and was like, ‘I’m working on this thing and I really feel like you’re the only person who can play this part,’” said Britton. “First of all, there’s no greater compliment than that. [Reuniting] was actually even better than I thought it was going to be. From the top all the way down, he treats everybody with such respect and creates an environment of such trust and freedom, and everybody feels that.
“And then I read it, and I loved the role,” she said. “I love the character. It didn’t feel like anything I had really played before, and Jason was so collaborative with me about creating who she was and what her journey was – what she went through and ended up losing and ultimately gaining in the show.”
Britton (“Nashville,” “American Horror Story,” “The White Lotus”) said she based her portrayal of Dee Dee in “Dear Edward” partly off of watching “The Real Housewives of New Jersey.”
“I’m not kidding, I feel like that’s sort of her lane,” she said. “And I’ve always wanted to try to understand those women more specifically. So it was fun to explore that. Really for me, in every character that I play, I’m interested in the women’s experience. And I try to find the universal thread in each character. Dee Dee is very wealthy and has all these clothes — so [her life] is more aspirationa. But also, it’s all a facade.
“I was really interested in exploring what happens when all of that gets blown up,” Britton said. “I just think in life [that] we all have that experience. Whatever happens, the things that come out of those ashes are often the most valuable — and give us the most strength.”
