‘Nashville’ Guest Star Laura Benanti Talks Sadie’s “Shady” Past

Nashville viewers have only seen a little bit of third-season guest star Laura Benanti‘s Sadie Stone, a longtime singer-songwriter who becomes friends with Connie Britton‘s Rayna James.

But she’s set to have a bigger role in Wednesday night’s fourth episode, “I Feel Sorry for Me,” bonding with Rayna as the two hide out from the paparazzi and even duetting on “Gasoline and Matches,” which fans can already buy on iTunes.

Read more Laura Benanti Signs With CAA

Viewers will also hear a bit about a “shady character in [Sadie’s] past that she’s trying to get away from,” Benanti tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Benanti can’t reveal too much of about the mystery man, but says it was a “romantic relationship” and that viewers will hear more about him in episode eight, which she’s currently shooting.

Overall, Benanti describes Sadie as a down-to-earth, hardworking woman with a good sense of humor.

Watch more Tonys: Megan Hilty, Andrew Rannells and Laura Benanti Mourn TV Show Cancellations

“She’s been writing songs for other people for a really long time. She’s by no means spoiled. She knows what it is to work hard and to have wins and losses,” the actress says. “I think she’s got a good sense of humor. I think she sees the world through the lens of a sense of humor, as do I.”

Although she’s mostly been working with Britton, Benanti says that she just read a script that will have her interacting with other people on the show.

Benanti was a self-proclaimed huge Nashville fan before she signed on for her multi-episode arc, and she says she was glad to find that the actors she’d watched on the ABC series were as fun to work with as she thought they’d be.

“Everyone’s been really lovely and I definitely was extremely excited coming into this experience. It’s been nice that everyone is as cool as I had hoped that they would be,” she says.

Read more ‘Nashville’: Connie Britton Is “Confused as Ever” in New Season

In light of her progression from Nashville fan to guest star, The Hollywood Reporter asked Benanti which other shows she’d love to guest on, with the actress listing Homeland, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, The Affair, Masters of Sex, Girls and Veep.

The Broadway vet who won a Tony for her role in Gypsy has spent the past three years focused on television, previously starring on NBC’s now-canceled Matthew Perry sitcom Go On, The Playboy Club and The Sound of Music Live! among other projects.

But she could be returning to the Great White Way soon, teasing, “There is the possibility of a Broadway show for 2016 that I’m very excited about.”

She’s also set to participate in a one-night-only concert event in February that’s still a bit of a secret.