I’ve never been one of those ride-or-die Connie Britton fans. No disrespect! I like her, I like that she hasn’t messed with her face and I think she’s a wonderful actress. But she flies under the radar for the most part and she’s not a regular of the celeb blogs or the mainstream entertainment media. I wonder if she prefers it that way? I don’t know. Anyway, Connie covers the new issue of Redbook (I loathe their redesign) and Connie actually makes some news. Not content to fly under the radar, Connie has some thoughts about Gwyneth Paltrow’s comments about working motherhood several months ago – Goop basically said her life as a part-time actress is SO MUCH HARDER than some peasant working a 9-5 job. Goop never apologized for it either – she later said that all of the (justified) anger towards her was just the peasants “projecting.” So what does Connie have to say about all of this?
Connie Britton has her own views on being a working mother. The Nashville star snagged the cover of Redbook magazine’s October issue, and gave her two cents on Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent comments about being a working actress and mother—and E! News has the exclusive sneak peek!
“Our hours are long, but I would never compare what I do to what anyone else does,” Britton states. “Everybody’s working hard and doing the best they can—if you’re a mom, there’s that pressure, we all face it. I’m constantly being pulled in different directions. But that’s the thing: Moms are pulled and distracted. I would never say that’s worse for me because I’m an actor. I am actually 100 percent sure all moms feel that way.”
Britton also spoke about the pressure on finding a partner and father figure for her 3-year-old son, Eyob, but also candidly confesses that there are perks to being a single mother.
“I would love to be doing this with a partner, and I want Eyob to have a father figure. But I also know that putting that kind of pressure on myself or on a relationship would be disastrous,” Britton tells the mag. “It’s funny—my married friends tell me all the time, ‘What you have is so much easier.’ When you’re doing it on your own, you don’t have to [argue over] how you’re raising the kids.”
Yep, pretty much. Connie’s right and I guess we should admire the fact that she managed to throw shade without directly criticizing Gwyneth Paltrow as a person (although that would have been awesome). Every woman has her struggles and every mom feels pulled in every direction. Damn it, Connie! Stop being so reasonable and say something bitchy!
Oh, and Connie also had this to say about the “cougar” thing: “There’s a lot of ‘cougar’ talk, and a level or indignity to the way people talk about it. Here’s the deal: I think that age can disappear. I know women in their 40’s who don’t feel like, quote unquote, women in their 40s. I hate generalizations. There’s also this idea of the older woman – or even just a strong woman – using men up and spitting them out. That’s not my experience at all. I get my heart broken. A big part of intimacy is vulnerability, but if you make yourself vulnerable, you’re going to get your heart broken.”
Photos courtesy of Matt Jones/Redbook.
Eyob?
I believe she adopted him from Ethiopia, and apparently it’s a fairly common name there, so it’s most likely a nod to his heritage. It’s derived from Job.
As they don’t live in Ethiopia, it would have been kinder to let Eyob be his middle name.
Any idea on how to pronounce it? Common or not in Ethiopia, he’s going to have to explain how to pronounce it to every single person he meets for the next 90 years. That always seems like such a burden to drop on a kid; my name can be spelled with either an i or a y and I get sick enough of having to answer that question.
Or maybe her son will be grateful to have a name that connects him to his heritage. “Kinder,” for real?
I think Eyob is fine.
@curious Cole America (and Canada) are both multicultural countries. Not everyone has to have a English-based name.
@CuriousCole – why?
I completely disagree, Curious Cole and RobN. First, it is pronounced exactly as it is spelled (e-yob). Secondly…it is very easy to say. Tell someone how to pronounce it once, it won’t be hard for them to remember.
I don’t understand why it is assumed that a boring, non-descript name would be better for a child than something unique and reflective of who they are and where they come from.
Ugh, I always get annoyed at people who think that it makes sense to take the individuality and culture out of a person’s name just because it’s easier for the “masses”. My parents immigrated from India, and, therefore, named me a traditional Indian name. Are they supposed to suddenly change it to “Jennifer” just so YOU don’t have to take 30 seconds to learn to pronounce a 4-letter word? That’s so ridiculous.
CuriousCole
I know a man who was adopted (from somewhere in africa) named Toot. Now that is a name he was teased for. Still, he loves it and appreciates not having a more English name.
If eyob dislikes his first name he can change it later in life.
I have an unusual name in RL, it was a little irksome to me when I was a kid but I love it now and would not trade it. Eyob is a lovely name.
He goes by his nickname, “Yoby” @Curiouscole.
This interview is actually the first time that I’ve heard Connie refer to him by his full first name since the original People article in which she shared her-then new-adoption news a couple of years ago…I was surprised.
He goes by “Yoby” @Curiouscole.
This interview is actually the first time that I’ve heard Connie refer to him by his full first name since the original People article in which she shared her then new adoption news a couple of years ago…I was surprised.
We adopted our son from Russia at 17 months of age. We kept his very Russian first name and gave him a common American middle name. We figured if he wanted to blend into the crowd he could always go by his middle name.
He is 18 now and he loves his Russian name. He says it makes him feel cool and exotic (plus it was the only possession he had at the time of his adoption).
“the only possession he had at the time of his adoption”
That is heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time to hear you say that about your son. What a great thing to honor him by leaving his name.
As for Connie’s son, I love that she kept his name as-is. It’s a cool name!
Connie seems like a nice lady and a nice mom. The actress who plays Quinn on Scandal was apparently at one point Connie’s nanny, and when she went on one of the nighttime talk shows and basically made fun of Connie it completely soured me on both the actress and her character. It was so icky.
Wow. I’ll have to YouTube that, but I don’t think that I can be soured on her Scandal character any further. Haha.
I remember hearing that, so it seems to me this actress’ rise to fame is fairly recent, right? (Not that she would be justified if this had happened 10+ years ago.) Wow. It’s never cool to make fun of former employers, and it’s really not cool to do so via a high profile medium.
I don’t think she called out Connie by name, but either way, it’s kind of unprofessional to discuss that sort of thing on a talk show, given that the other party is in the business too.
Side note: I can’t stand Quinn. She’s obnoxious.
Are you talking about the “pooping” story that actress told? I think that someone on Celebitchy thought it *might* be about Connie, but she never said that. I’m sure that she nannied for people before Connie.
Other outlets confirmed it was Connie (apparently Quinn wasn’t a celebrity nanny for long) and it wasn’t just the potty training thing (which some people actually do, and while it’s definitely on the granola side of parenting it’s not some weird celebrity quirk) but she made fun of the kid’s name for goodness sake. It was just so gross, and I dislike that she was mining her connection to someone more accomplished (and her kid) for laughs.
Her hair looks fantadtic! So thick and healthy.
What would Tami Taylor do?
That’s my exact thought. Tami Taylor would say that she is having a hard time with leaving Grace at daycare and then Coach would come home from the college job.
I can’t not think of her as Tami Taylor and I watch Nashville and still think Tami Taylor
Haha! I had about four WWTTD moments just this morning.
I’ve always loved her hair, loved her on American Horror too.
I’ve even caught some of that show Nashville on the lowlow.
she always seems kinda no nonsense, doing her own thing living her life type of chick.
I like her. She seems just decent.
And it can be a great thing she isn’t covered here often.
She was great on AHS. I secretly wished Nashville would pan out so she would return.
Kind of random, but if you have never heard of The Nerdist podcast done by comedian Chris Hardwick, Connie Britton was on there a while back and her episode made me love her more than I thought I could. I’d love to go have a beer with this chick, she’s so real. Chris knew her back in the day.
I will always love her for her fantastic portrayal of Mrs. Coach in Friday Night Lights. Such a good show. I tried watching Nashville but didn’t care much for it.
Same here. She’s always going to be Tami Taylor to me. I miss FNL.
I am a big fan of FNL! She was so wonderful in that show. It was especially challenging for actors considering their use of the super-duper close up that is so close you can’t see their hairline or their chin. You have to be so natural in that kind of extreme close up! She’s so talented!
All I got for here was that she is looks like he is toilet hovering on that last pic
Absolutely. Horrible pic/pose.
Ha! So true!
as a single mom, I hear her comments. I’m dating someone for the first time in years and I’m trying to decide if I fall completely or just have some fun. Right now, I’m tetering on the edge. He is all about getting serious. I know it’s not going to last forever, but I really want to go all in. How to decide how much heartbreak we can handle emotionally??
In times like that, I always go somewhere quite (take a walk etc.), and usually with enough peace, the “right” answer floats to the surface.
that squatting picture though :/