AMERICANWAY

ITINERARY CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ABC/MARK LEVINE; EDDY CHEN/FOX; PAUL REDMOND/GETTY IMAGES 2 0 N OV E M B E R 2 01 4 A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY T V Fiercely Funny Brooklyn Nine-Nine's STEPHANIE BEATRIZ gets down to business. A , - Rosa Diaz on the hit sitcom Brooklyn Nine- Nine, Stephanie Beatriz cuts both an intimi- dating and funny fi gure. Beatriz's character was originally named Megan, "a smart, tough cop who is also scary as hell," the actress says. "I went to my closet and wore the toughest, coolest clothes that I own. I started pulling out all this black stu and these crazy big boots that made me look like a giant. That part is my version of it." The unf lappable Detective Diaz does not tolerate nonsense, but she has a soft spot for awkward fellow de- tective Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio), and their unrequited ten- sion i nt r ig ues B e at- riz. "She's definitely the more confi dent of the two, but she's ob- v iously lack ing a lot of person-to-person sk ills," Beatr iz says. "She's rea lly isolated as a person and wants to keep it that way. I don't know if those two will end up together, but I think it would be really fascinating if they somehow did in the end." Beatriz will also appear in the forthcoming film You're Not You, which stars Hilary Swank as a woman battling Lou Gehrig's disease, or ALS. "This movie is on the heady side, and my character provides some co- medic relief," Beatriz explains. "She's really funny and really sassy." A classically trained theater actor, Beatriz says her childhood dream was to act on Broadway. "Kristo er Diaz is an amazing playwright who's had a lot of success in New York," she says. "That being said, I'd be all over a revival of Tennessee Williams. He's my favorite. Cross your fi ngers for me." — love a b out C on n ie Br it t on , who currently stars as coun- tr y legend Ray na Jay mes on A BC's Nashville: her beloved role of Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights, her ability to seamlessly drop "y 'a ll" into any sentence, her much- coveted hair. But when Britton starts chatting with American Way, we real- ize this: Her best quality is her down- to-earth, as-warm-as-you-hoped-for personality. AMERICAN WAY: You live in Nashville most of the year and are immersed in the music industry. Has this put you at ease with singing on the show? CONNIE BRITTON: I've always loved singing, but during the first few episodes, the pressure was on, and it was less fun and more just terrifying. I actually just got back into voice lessons yesterday and had a great time. It really struck me how wonderful that is: getting joy out of it now. AW: Singing in public is a vulnerable thing, and even more so on national television. CB: Very vulnerable. I still — and this is what I feel about acting, too — I'm always finding new challenges to make me feel like I'm pushing myself. The singing is still absolutely a work in progress. Honestly, the only reason I had the nerve to do this in the first place is because I had just adopted my son and was constantly singing to him. So I was like, "Oh, I can sing! He loves it when I sing!" AW: How do you pick such strong, iconic roles? CB: With Tami Taylor, I was hardly looking for something iconic. I did it because Peter Berg was pushing me to. I think there have been amazing women role models on television, from Lucille Ball to Mary Tyler Moore. Yet, particularly when I was younger, there was an era when women characters could often be very two-dimensional. So really, all I was trying to do was give a voice where I didn't believe there had been one before. That's one of the things that appealed to me about playing Rayna Jaymes as well. AW: We'd be remiss not to discuss your hair. People love your hair. CB: I can't do anything with my hair myself, so I'm just always grateful for the lovely attention that my hair gets! —A L L I S O N WI N N S COTC H "I'm always finding NEW CHALLENGES to make me feel like I'm pushing myself." FROM LEFT: Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton on Nashville FROM LEFT: Stephanie Beatriz and Melissa Fumero on Brooklyn Nine-Nine

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