Gwyneth Paltrow's 'Country Strong' Character Inspired by Britney Spears, Michael Jackson

5:34 PM PST 1/5/2011 by Tom Roland, Shirley Halperin

Says writer-director Shana Feste: 'We build these artists and celebrate them, then at the first sign of weakness, we rally around their downfall.'

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Country Strong character Kelly Canter plays out an all-too-common tale in the music industry: fallen star, substance abuser and rehab graduate hell-bent on a return to their former glory. In fact, it was only last year that we were celebrating Crazy Heart, the male version of this drama, with Jeff Bridges in the lead role for which he won an Academy Award.