Charles Esten Reveals His Strangest Acting Roles

ABC's hit TV show Nashville wouldn't be the same without Charles Esten, who plays Deacon Claybourne. In fact, it could be argued that the role fits the actor the best of any he's held -- and he's held some pretty interesting ones.

"I was on Cheers; I walked through that bar door on Cheers. I was one of Murphy Brown's secretaries," Esten tells The Boot. "I was a Klingon [in Star Trek] -- might be one of the coolest ones.

"Two hours of makeup for eight seconds of lines," he adds with a laughs. "But that was early in the career. I've been able to do some fantastic and fun and strange things."

Esten's own life doesn't have the amount of drama in it that his character Claybourne's does; you're more likely to see photos of Esten's family than red carpet photos around their home.

"We tend to condense the other things in one place. A lot of them are in boxes and put away," he notes. "There's some pretty cool ones, but ... the house is about the family."

Among Esten's mementos are every single script he's ever used, as well as a stratocaster and microphone from his days playing Buddy Holly in the musical Buddy.

Though Esten's character on Nashville seems irreplaceable, he still admits to occasionally getting nervous about being replaced; after all, some of television's biggest shockers come from killing off some of the biggest characters.

"... You just never know, and you kinda just cross your fingers," he admits. "All I know is, I'm in heaven right now, being on the show and being in this town. But, definitely, from time to time, you feel like there might be a trap door under you, so you keep your eyes low and just keep your head down and do the best you can while you're here."

Country Stars Who Have Acted in TV Shows and Movies