Rachel Bilson to Play Marketing Expert for Highway 65 Records in ‘Nashville’
“There's some real interesting stories that are going to happen about Highway 65 and what changes they need to make in order to stay alive," showrunner Marshall Herskovitz revealed.
As new episodes of Nashville come back to television soon, new characters arise in the dramatic story-line unfolding in the country music series.
Rachel Bilson will tag along to the cast to rejuvenate the strategy of Highway 65 Records as the role of Alyssa Greene following the shocking death of Connie Britton’s character, Rayna Jaymes. Hailing from technological-heavy region of California, Greene will put her Silicon Valley business skills to the test as she configures alternative measures for the label to exist.
Showrunner Marshall Herskovitz told TV Guide that Bilson will provide the innovative outlook that the company is missing now that their owner has passed.
“There’s some real interesting stories that are going to happen about Highway 65 and what changes they need to make in order to stay alive,” Herskovitz revealed. “That’s where Rachel’s character comes in as the chief strategy officer.”
Not only will Bilson’s character try to diminish any financial issues going on with Jaymes’ record label, she also will contribute an optimistic view to the other employees. Not understanding how cutthroat the industry can be, even in country music, Greene will people-please as much as possible but she’ll come to find stepping on toes is bound to happen.
“She plays a character who is really good at getting along with people,” Herskovitz shared with TV Guide. “She’s a bit of a cheerleader, and someone who is a peacemaker. There’s an interesting dynamic within this character where her first aim is to have everybody get along. But that’s not always possible in this world.”
Also joining the cast for the continuation of season five includes Kaitlyn Doubleday from FOX’s Empire. According to Herskovitz, she’s set to play country competition Jessie Caine and will push some of Juliette Barnes’ (Hayden Panettiere) buttons along the way.
New episodes of Nashville begin on Thursday, June 1, at 9 p.m. ET on CMT.
