After this season's shocking events, Nashville fans needed a little good news. It looks like they may get it in the form of two new characters. Though we don't know what their roles are yet, Rachel Bilson and Kaitlin Doubleday are confirmed to join the cast.
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Bilson first rose to stardom as Summer Roberts on FOX's hit show The O.C. in 2003. She then starred in several movies before acting in CW series Hart Of Dixie from 2011 to 2015. Bilson also appeared in How I Met Your Mother and Chuck. For Bilson, Nashville marks a reunion between her and fellow The O.C. alum Chris Carmack, who plays Will Lexington.
Meanwhile, fans may recognize Kaitlin Doubleday from another music show. Doubleday starred as Rhonda Lyon in FOX's music drama Empire. Her character died in the first episode of season three of that show, but she'll still maintain a recurring role on Empire as she also joins Nashville.
"We welcome Rachel and Kaitlin into our incredibly talented ensemble," series co-showrunner Marshall Herskovitz told AOL.com. "We fondly anticipate the second half of the season filled with surprising twists and turns that make Nashville so beloved by the fans."
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In other words, fans will find out more about Bilson and Doubleday's characters in the second half of season 5. Herskovitz says there will be a time jump similar to the length of the show's current break.
"Certainly everyone is still dealing with Rayna's death — that doesn't just go away," Herskovitz says. "For some of the characters, that's a big part of the storyline, but the other characters are moving on with their lives and trying to figure it out. They're dealing with success and failure and all of the vicissitudes of life in the music business and in a city like Nashville where there's so much creative energy and creative connections between people."
