‘Friday Night Lights’ and ‘White Lotus’ actress Connie Britton says she never thought about being likable

In addition to being a successful Hollywood actress, Britton is an investor, philanthropist, activist, and serves on the boards of Dartmouth College and the University of Southern California.

Beyond the roles she plays, she points out that as a woman, there’s a desire, and perhaps an expectation, to be likeable.

“I think as women, we see around us all the time this expectation that we have to be lovable,” Britton said while speaking on the main stage. “We see it in politics, we see it in the workplace.”

She explains that in the world of television and film, there’s always been one rule: female characters have to be likeable. If they weren’t super likable, they were villains.

“I never try to be likeable, and I never judge my characters on their appearance,” Britton said, adding that she approaches every role from the perspective of her fundamental beliefs about being a woman , “We’re always trying to find our own strength, and that’s very true to each of us.”

It would be nice if, by accident, her character becomes likable. But Britton said she was “always in service of the story she wanted to tell.”

“It’s really important that I show women the complexity, the drive and determination, the flaws and helplessness that we all have,” Britton said. “And then hopefully we can look at ourselves in that way and say : “Oh, I like her, I don’t know that I would like her even though she has all these flaws, all these issues, all these issues. And, I don’t know that I would like her if she wasn’t perfect.” So, this That’s the goal. “

Britton said that throughout her life she had tried to see things through different lenses and was interested in the things she least understood. And, especially now, she was ready to understand something she had never understood before. Britton said it’s important as an actor to take risks.

“With my acting roles, every time I choose a role, I want to make sure it’s going to take me out of my comfort zone in some way,” she said. “If there’s no possibility of failure, then it’s not a real risk.”

Taking risks can be scary, Britton said, but it’s also the best opportunity to learn and grow. She mentioned the writers’ and actors’ strike and how it triggered a turning point in Hollywood, while adding that she had been developing a production company for the past few years. It requires a different skill set than an actor, but she wanted to be in control of the creative process of the story she was telling. Britton said it was challenging but also very rewarding.

But throughout the process, she saw firsthand how women faced cultural barriers based on what the film showed the world.Britton said she deserves special praise for being able to play incredible characters friday night lightsBut as a producer, she saw a deep-rooted resistance to the portrayal of women in Hollywood. Still, her goal is to always tell stories that are as universal as possible and reflect real women, and even though she’s running her own production company, she’ll always be an actress.

“The goal and the dream is that I will take action in the things that I create,” Britton said.