‘Nashville’s’ Charles Esten Plans to Make Music City His Forever Home
Rather than head back out to the Hollywood lifestyle, Esten hopes to live in Nashville and continue making music even after the cameras stop rolling for Nashville.
Although Charles Esten used to feel most at home while acting in shows out on the West Coast, he finally feels comfortable enough to make Nashville into his permanent city even after Nashville goes off the air.
Esten spent years in Los Angeles booking gigs across all forms of television shows, but he admits that everything changed once he got the call to play Deacon Claybourne on the hit musical drama. Picking up shop and moving his loved ones thousands of miles away, the actor realized how calming it was to establish roots in Music City.
“When I first got to Nashville it was like coming home to a place I’d never been before. And it really felt like that immediately. I think a lot of it is growing up in Virginia and Pennsylvania — the green and the rolling hills — it felt very familiar to me. Then there are the people. They just welcomed us immediately. We knew more people on our street here in a day a half than we did in 15 years in L.A. And that’s just the nature of Nashville,” Esten explained during an interview with CMT.
After several years developing friendships and growing roots in Nashville thanks to his career, Esten plans on staying in town as long as he can, even if it means he travels more often for work on future roles.
“With my love of music and making music, Nashville is the place to be. Events that we get to go to and get to be part of — the songwriting community, the recording industry and all the people — how can you imagine living anywhere else? It’s hard to say where acting will take me. Sometimes you’ve got to go to shoots, but in the end, this will always be home. And I’m real happy to say that. It means a lot to me,” Esten revealed.
What else does Esten have planned once the Nashville cameras stop rolling? Like many residents of the city, he wants to put music and writing at the forefront while balancing his acting opportunities on the side.
“That would be a goal to get to write every day. I love being in a writer’s room with great minds. Songwriters tend to be some of the funniest people and some of the most emotionally intelligent people I know. It would be a thrill to get a cut some day.”
The final season of Nashville airs on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST on CMT.
