'Nashville' Star Jonathan Jackson Answers Your Twitter Qs

When we asked Nashville fans what they would ask Jonathan Jackson, we got questions covering everything from Avery’s hookup with Layla, the real-life father-of-three’s scenes with baby Cadence, and how his faith informs his acting (a subject explored in his book, The Mystery of Art: Becoming An Artist in the Image of God), to whether we’ll see a reboot of his 1994 movie Camp Nowhere. Watch him answer in the video above. Below are eight more things we learned during our chat:

1. That Avery-Layla-Juliette love triangle isn’t over. “They tend to save resolutions for the season finale,” Jackson says. “And actually this year was unique because a few of the storylines, there were alternate endings shot, so I’m in suspense just like the audience.” (The season finale airs May 25.)

2. He’s as thankful as you are that Avery is no longer the man he was in Season 1. “I think there were some real advocates for that in Callie Khouri and T Bone Burnett, who really fought to have that character have a transformation. And it’s amazing, because I think if Avery had stayed as the sort of narcissistic character that he was, it’s very possible that he wouldn’t even be on the show right now,” he says. “So I’ve very thankful to them for turning the character around. It’s also a great story because it shows that somebody can mature, can kind of hit rock bottom and learn some humility and make different choices in their life. It’s nice for people to get to see that.”

3. Avery will sing again this season. Keep an ear out for “Kinda Dig the Feeling,” which Jackson describes as “kind of an Americana, high-energy song, which I haven’t done as much since the first season.”

4. Although Elton John guest stars in the May 18 episode of Nashville, Jackson didn’t get a scene with him. Sam Palladio (Gunnar) got that honor. “I was very excited for Sam, and I’m excited to see it,” Jackson says. “From what I hear, [Elton John] was just amazing and between takes was playing ‘Rocket Man’ and all this stuff.”

5. He, too, would have liked to see more of Avery, Gunnar, and Will living together with Cadence. “One of the things that is great for the show is to have that kind of humor. There’s so much drama, it’s nice to have that relief here and there. Sam and Chris both have an amazing sense of humor, so we’re constantly looking for little things to add and throw in there. I suppose you could have a whole episode, ‘Three Men and a Baby,’ which is what we called it on set. Just stay in their house and see all the chaos and madness that goes on. But, alas, it’s an ensemble show, so we’ll never see that.”

6. On tour with members of the Nashville cast this spring, Jackson mostly shared a bus with Chip Esten and Clare Bowen and her fiancé, Brandon Young. “Brandon is always good at sussing out the red wine, which is wonderful. Chip is almost inexhaustible, really. He has so much energy and so much absolute love and joy. And Clare is amazing because she often is very attuned to things that I may have forgotten or not been aware of, and she’s very resourceful with that,” he says. “We’ve had many nights where we’re up ‘til three in the morning just hanging out and talking. They’re wonderful people.”

7. Though he didn’t experience musical theater a lot growing up, as an adult he’s grown to love and appreciate it more and more. He caught the Tony-nominated musical Bright Star while he was in New York earlier this month for the Nashville cast’s show at Madison Square Garden. “I would love to do that some day,” he says of Broadway.

8. For many years, Jackson’s five Daytime Emmys for playing Lucky Spencer on General Hospital were in boxes as he moved from Washington state to Los Angeles to Music City. “Since I’ve moved into a house in Nashville, we got them out and they are in my office at the moment,” he says. “One of them had an injury and is lying down in a cupboard somewhere, because in the move it broke. I don’t think you can really repair Emmys. I Googled it. [Laughs]. No, I’m just kidding.”

Nashville airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.