Constance Elaine Britton (née Womack; born March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Britton made her feature film debut in the independent comedy-drama film The Brothers McMullen (1995), and the following year, she was cast as Nikki Faber on the ABC sitcom Spin City. She later starred in the short-lived sitcoms The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001) and Lost at Home (2003), and appeared in several films, most notably the sports drama film Friday Night Lights (2004) and the thriller film The Last Winter (2006).
Britton starred as Tami Taylor on the NBC/DirecTV drama series Friday Night Lights from 2006 to 2011. For this role, she received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
In 2011, she starred as Vivien Harmon in the first season of FX horror-drama series American Horror Story, for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. She reprised her role for the eighth season of the show, Apocalypse. Britton starred as country singer Rayna Jaymes in the ABC/CMT musical drama series Nashville from 2012 to 2018, for which she was nominated for another Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.
In 2016, Britton had a recurring role as socialite Faye Resnick in the first season of FX true crime anthology series American Crime Story. In 2018, she starred as Abby Clark in the Fox procedural drama series 9-1-1 as a main role in the first season and a guest in the third season, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for her performance as Debra Newell in the Bravo true crime anthology series Dirty John. In 2021, Britton starred in the HBO satire comedy-drama series The White Lotus alongside Jennifer Coolidge and Steve Zahn, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
In feature films, Britton starred in the romantic comedy-drama Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), the romantic comedy The To Do List (2013), the comedy-dramas This Is Where I Leave You (2014) and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015), the action comedy American Ultra (2015), the period drama Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017), the comedy-drama The Land of Steady Habits (2018), the drama Bombshell (2019) and the thriller Promising Young Woman (2020).
Early life and education
Britton was born Constance Elaine Womack in Boston, Massachusetts, to Linda Jane (née Cochran) and Edgar Allen Womack, Jr., who was a physicist and an energy company executive. She spent her early years in Rockville, Maryland.
When she was seven years old, she moved with her parents and her fraternal twin sister, Cynthia, to Lynchburg, Virginia, where she attended E. C. Glass High School and performed in plays in the E. C. Glass High School Theater; her photo is displayed in the E. C. Glass Alumni Theater. She majored in Asian studies with a concentration in Chinese at Dartmouth College, and studied at the Beijing Normal University during her freshman summer with Kirsten Gillibrand, who was later elected to the United States Senate.
After graduating in 1989, Britton (then Womack) moved to New York City, where she spent two years at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre studying with Sanford Meisner.
