ExclusiveJana Kramer Discusses Reuniting With ‘One Tree Hill’ Costar Austin Nichols in ‘Gaslit By My Husband’
Jana Kramer reflects on reuniting with One Tree Hill costar Austin Nichols in their new movie, Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story, during an exclusive video interview with Life & Style.
She stars in the Lifetime movie as Morgan and Austin, 44, portrays her husband, Rodney, who is physically, sexually and mentally abusive towards his wife.
After she was cast in the film, Jana, 40, admits she worried about who would be cast as Rodney due to “the nature of this movie.”
“I knew how triggering it was gonna be for me. I really wanted to trust the person that was gonna be playing this part with me and have that safety, and so they said they put an offer out to Austin and I’m just like, ‘Please please please. I hope that he accepts it,’” Jana, who has been open about her own past experiences with domestic abuse, recalls to Life & Style. “From the time that I met Austin on One Tree Hill, we formed an amazing friendship together. He’s a wonderful friend, he’s an incredible actor and I’ve always felt safe in his presence, you know, in scenes and off camera.”
After the production team sent an offer to Austin, Jana says she reached out to gauge his interest. “I texted him on the side and was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know, you know, what your thoughts are, if you’re gonna take this movie or not, but like anything I can do … I hope you take it,’” she shares. “They were able to work out some date things and, you know, he accepted the role.”
“I could not have done it with anybody but him because in those moments that were so hard filming, I knew at the end that I had someone that I could trust and I could have safety with,” Jana shares about filming the intense scenes that depict abuse.
Despite being “such great friends” with Austin, Jana admits that the filming process wasn’t always fun due to the intense scenes they had to film. “The first week we’re filming the attack scene and there’s no, like, ‘Hey Austin. How are you?’” the Friday Night Lights alum explains. “You gotta get into character and it’s dark and it’s heavy stuff.”
Prior to reuniting for Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story, Jana and Austin worked together on One Tree Hill. While he starred on the CW drama as Julian Baker from 2008 until 2012, she portrayed Alex Dupre from 2009 until 2012.
Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story premieres on Lifetime Sunday, June 9, at 8 p.m. ET.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
