Nashville actress Connie Britton may be best known from her breakthrough role as Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights, but she almost found fame ten years earlier when she auditioned for Jerry Maguire.

After her success in the 1995 film The Brothers McMullen, her director and co-star in the film, Edward Burns, shared a script with her that Jerry Maguire director Cameron Crowe had sent him to read. Burns actually thought Britton would be perfect for the romantic lead.

Britton tells The New York Times Magazine, "So I took it home and I read it." She recalls, "I was blown away. I loved the script, the role -- I was like, 'Oh my gosh. This is incredible.' And I walked into my brand-new agent's office the next day, and I put the script down on his desk, and I was like, 'I have two words for you: Jerry Maguire.'"

She went on and  had a great audition and got kudos from Crowe, but on the day of her screen test with Tom Cruise, she was told "they just want to screen test one other actress." That other actress was Renee Zellweger, who landed the role. The 45-year-old actress says of losing out, "It was heartbreak. Maybe I was too tall."

I adore Connie but can't see her in that role?  Renee killed it didn't she?

~Vanessa

Get Celebrity Gossip, Country Music News, Hear New Music, Watch New Videos and MORE in my blog HERE!