After focusing mostly on feature films since Friday Night Lights ended its run, Connie Britton was confident Kyle Chandler would return to the small screen.
"I always knew he'd come back," Britton, who earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Tami Taylor on the NBC drama, recently told The Hollywood Reporter of her former on-screen husband.
STORY: Kyle Chandler to Star in Showtime's 'The Vatican' Pilot
Chandler recently landed the starring role on Showtime's drama pilot The Vatican, where he'll reunite with FNL producer-turned-Showtime Entertainment president David Nevins and play Cardinal Thomas Duffy, a charismatic yet enigmatic archbishop of New York whose progressive leanings excite some and alarm others within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
"I'm so excited for him but you know what's weird? I have no idea what kind of character he's playing in The Vatican -- but I always said to he should play some kind of religious zealot," laughed Britton, who's starring on ABC's musical Nashville. "So hopefully he's playing some kind of religious zealot!"
Since FNL ended its five-season run in February 2011, Chandler has focused on features -- with roles in Super 8, Argo andZero Dark Thirty, among others. Vatican -- should the pilot from House's Paul Attanasio be ordered to series -- would mark his first small-screen regular role since he earned an Emmy for playing football coach Eric Taylor.
STORY: Kyle Chandler Puts Kibosh on 'Friday Night Lights' Movie Talk
While Britton ruled out a reunion for the former co-stars on Nashville, she has high hopes for the longtime friends to get back together elsewhere.
"You're going to see both of us back on TV together. We keep talking about how we have to wait a certain amount of years and then we can go back to working together again," she said.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
