From creator Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) and based on the novel by Ann Napolitano, the Apple TV+ original series Dear Edward explores the lives of the family and friends who lost someone in the same plane crash that had one lone survivor, a 12-year-old boy. Trying to figure out how to deal with his own grief, Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien) doesn’t feel like the miracle boy the world considers him to be, having lost his parents and older brother in the tragedy. But as he goes on his journey of self-discovery to figure out what comes next, a grief group forms that leads to new friendships and romances, showing even the most lost among them just how resilient and brave they really are.
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During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Connie Britton (who plays Dee Dee Cameron, a wealthy and privileged woman who lost her husband in the crash, leading to some revealed secrets that turn her world upside down) talked about what made this character so appealing to her, how different Dee Dee is from her Friday Night Lights character Tami Taylor, what makes Katims such a great collaborator, maintaining a sense of lightness and levity in such a dark time, and playing someone so resilient. She also talked about the impact The White Lotus has had, and creator Mike White’s extraordinary ability to observe human behavior and translate that to the screen.

Collider: I feel like you can’t watch a Jason Katims show without a box of Kleenex, which I had at the ready when watching this, but I loved it. It’s such a beautiful story.

CONNIE BRITTON: Thank you. Yes, you need the Kleenex. The crying is great. But then, don’t you feel good at the end?

Image via Apple TV+

How did you get involved with this? Did Jason Katims reach out to you directly? What did he tell you about the story and character?

BRITTON: He called me up and was like, “I’m writing this thing, and I’m writing this role that I can only see you doing.” Of course, I was thrilled to hear that, and thrilled to hear from him. There’s nothing more exciting than somebody telling you they’re imagining you and writing a role for you. But then, he told me what the role was and I was like, “It’s so funny that he sees me in that role.” It’s so different from Tami Taylor and from other roles that I’ve played, but we talked about it a lot, and I just fell in love with the character. I found the character to be so much fun. I was so excited to have fun with her, and then also go on the journey with her because she really goes through it. There’s nothing better than being able to sink your teeth into real life experience drama and to do so with some levity. I really wanted to maintain her sense of being a pretty funny gal. I wanted to maintain her sense of lightness and levity, even though she’s going through such a dark time.

She’s somebody that you do find yourself really rooting for, and hoping that she figures things out and finds her way through this path that she didn’t expect to find herself on.

BRITTON: Yeah, totally.

Image via Apple TV+

Obviously Friday Night Lights was a special experience. I would imagine it would be impossible for it not to be, when you’re on a show for several seasons and people will forever love it and identify you with it. How did that collaboration with Jason Katims compare to this? Did it feel the same? Did it feel like you’d picked up with no time having passed, or does he feel different to collaborate with now?

BRITTON: It’s funny, Friday Night Lights was such a pivotal experience and it really set the bar for all of us, in terms of how we wanna work and what we value creatively. And then, we’ve all gone out and sought to maintain those standards, to some degree, and sometimes it’s more possible than other times, with some projects, as opposed to others. I would have imagined that Jason is still holding to those same values, but I didn’t know for sure. I can tell you, in just the way that he was so collaborative with me and gave me so much freedom, in terms of this role, and just the way the set was, it always comes from the top down. He creates such an environment of respect, and collaboration and cooperation, and improvisation. Every person, from the cast and crew, experienced that, and there was a joy in it, for everybody. That comes from him. He establishes that. And so, I was so pleasantly surprised, but also not surprised at all. I was just so happy that was the case.

This plane crash really leads to every aspect of your character’s life being turned upside down. Do you think she ever had any suspicion or any questions about her life, before this? Did she ever have a gut feeling that something wasn’t right, or did she just have that feeling of being so comfortable with her life that she didn’t question it?

BRITTON: Denial is a fascinating thing. That’s a great question, actually. I asked myself that question, as we were shooting. There’s a scene where my daughter is like, “Mom is everything okay?” And in my answering that, I thought, “Is she? Is she covering, or does she really genuinely think everything’s okay?” And I really felt like Dee Dee had created such a facade for herself, that was so important to uphold, I really do think she was believing that it was all fine because she wanted to hold on to that. I feel like that’s a very universal thing that people do, to maintain whatever it is that they think is important to whatever their image is, or whatever their idea of themselves is. I think she really was holding onto this denial because it was too horrible to look at. It was too scary for her to look at. But then, of course, life happens and everything breaks apart, and you have to look. That’s where the courage comes in.

With everything that Dee Dee goes through, do you feel like she’s actually more resilient than even she realized she is?

BRITTON: I do. In fact, for me, that was what I found to be true, in the experience of playing her arc. When everything is shattered and broken apart, and she has nothing that she thought she had before, and she’s forced to look at the truth of what her life really is, in doing that, she actually discovers strength and power that she never knew she had, and maybe would never have recognized in herself. That’s really cool. I think that is a universal journey for people who go through life-changing loss or grief.

Image via Apple TV+

She feels like a character that is cracked open, by the end of the season, and it’s almost more exciting to think of what Season 2 could be for her because it’s hard to say where she would go next?

BRITTON: I know. I agree with you. It’s exciting for me to think about too. It’s like, “Oh, Dee Dee, what have you got in store?”

You’ve played some pretty great characters in your career, but one of the most recent standouts was in Season 1 of The White Lotus. Did you have any idea that show would become the sensation that it did, as loved and acclaimed and talked about as it turned out to be? What was it like to really experience that, as it happened?

BRITTON: First of all, you can never anticipate something like that. I never even try to predict what a show is gonna do and what the impact is gonna be. The White Lotus has been extra level. The only thing that I ever can base anything on is the fact that I knew that Mike White’s writing is extraordinary, and he wrote and directed all of it. His ability to observe human behavior is so incredible, and to capture that in such a creative way. I just had such enormous respect for him and admire him so much. That’s why I was like, “Oh, this is a special project. I wanna do it because I wanna work with him.” But beyond that, you can never anticipate how it’s gonna be received.

It was certainly fun to have those weekly conversations again because it doesn’t happen with every show anymore.

BRITTON: Yeah. And with Dear Edward, I really hope that people will talk about, in a different way. We have a shared collective grief, from the last few years, for so many varying reasons. I think it’ll be interesting to see, if that maybe stirs up a conversation among people.

Dear Edward is available to stream at Apple TV+.