‘Nashville’ Actors Appreciate Being Part of Country Music Community

ABC’s hit show “Nashville” has made quite the mark on Music City and the country music community, but it appears the city has also left its mark on the show’s cast.

Since the debut of “Nashville,” many of the actors have relocated to Music City and they all seem to appreciate how the country music community has embraced them.

Sam Palladio, who plays Gunnar Scott, has felt nothing but welcome in Music City. “We’re just very lucky ‘cause I think a lot of us still think of ourselves as just these lucky actors that are playing these characters on a show about music, but the great thing is that the team behind the show really, really strive to find actors who have a love of music, and we all do,” he shares. “And so, it is an honor to be included and thought of, and asked to perform.”

Not only does Charles Esten, who portrays the role of Deacon Claybourne, feel the love, he also thinks of the show as their love letter to the city itself. “I love the interplay between ‘Nashville’ the show and Nashville the city, so very much. Clearly from the word go, from the first pilot, that was written by Callie Khouri, our show is a love letter to Nashville, and what was so exciting was seeing that love returned to us by the city,” he says. “The people here really seem to appreciate what we’re doing and how we’re trying to bring something true and something exciting at the same time. That’s thrilling to us ‘cause we live here and so that’s really important.”

He adds, “If the city wasn’t all it is, you can do movie magic and all that but it’s sorta hard to put too much there that’s not there. We’re just holding up a mirror and the mirror says it’s the beautiful city that it is, with all the great music and all the great people and the world gets to see that and so here they come.”

Fans can catch new episodes of “Nashville” every Wednesday at 10/9C on ABC.