It’s hard to imagine that “Nashville” actress Hayden Panettiere, who plays country music starlet Juliette Barnes, is anything but confident up on stage, especially with a near-life long career on the screen.

“But I have terrible stage fright!” she admits. “Though I know as soon as I get comfortable up there, you’re not going to get me off, you’re not going to get me off the stage, I’m going to want to stay up there and keep singing and keep singing.”

One thing that makes performing easier is that Panettiere is a big fan of the (original!) music featured on the show. “These songs are unbelievable . . . It’s really, really stellar solid music.”

Another thing that makes the on stage performing part easier, Panettiere says, is channeling Juliette.

“That’s why you see a lot of musicians or singers, like Beyoncé is Sasha Fierce, (with) an alter ego so that when she’s on stage that’s whose she’s being – it’s not Beyoncé, it’s not herself on stage, it’s this alter ego of hers.”

Though Panettiere thinks it might take a while before she loses the pre-performance nerves, she is thrilled to be filming the show in its namesake city, a factor that adds depth and dimension to the show.

“You can fake a lot of places but I don’t think Nashville is one of them,” says Panettiere. “There are just too many landmarks there, like the Blue Bird Café, and other places like that, that if we tried to fake it, I think, it would be problematic.” 

Shooting in Nashville also lets Panettiere and her fellow cast mates immerse themselves into everything the legendary music capital has to offer.

“You go to the Blue Bird Café, which is an icon in itself and you hear the most amazing singers and songwriters. I listened to Kate Taylor (James Taylor’s sister),” says Panettiere.

And to add even more to the authenticity of the show, Panettiere reveals she picked up 20 (!) pairs of cowboy boots on her first visit to Nashville.

“I have such a small foot, that they had my size shoes in discount boxes because nobody one could fit into them – so they were, like, 10 bucks a pop,” she explains.

“And so the show came along and I said to the costume designer, ‘You have to come pick up two garbage bags full of cowboy boots, we have to use these on the show!’

“So we have a lot of cool cowboy boots to wear,” she says with a laugh.

“Nashville” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV two. Full episodes are also available online at CTV.ca.

About Lindsay Zier-Vogel

Lindsay Zier-Vogel has been working for CTV.ca and covering So You Think You Can Dance Canada since 2008. In addition to interviewing the famed American choreographer Bill T. Jones and Canadian prima ballerina Karen Kain, Lindsay’s highlights include criss-crossing Canada on four SYTYCDC audition tours and covering the Juno Awards. Follow her on Twitter!