Clare Bowen is excited to reprise her role as Scarlett O'Connor -- the on-again, off-again flame and singing partner of Gunnar Scott (Sam Palladio) -- during Season 5 of the hit TV show Nashville. Although the singer and actress couldn't reveal too much, she recently explained that O'Connor will go through some changes during the drama's new season.

"She’s so good at making things just okay and calm, like everything will be just fine. But, often, that is to the detriment of her own feelings and her own well-being," Bowen tells The Boot of her character. "So, this season, obviously I can’t give away too much ... [but] she’s discovering the fact that she’s worth something.

"I think a lot of [people], particularly women, are very good at nurturing to a fault, where you forget to take care of yourself. You’re so wrapped up in making sure everyone else is okay that you forget about yourself," Bowen continues. "You can’t love somebody properly if you don’t love yourself and know that you’re a special creature yourself. That’s what I’ve been just wanting so badly for [O'Connor] to discover about herself -- what makes her happy. Because she’s very, very good at making everybody else happy. So I hope this metamorphosis is something you’ll be seeing in Season 5."

Bowen remains grateful for the outspoken Nashville fans, dubbed "Nashies," who successfully fought for the return of the series after ABC canceled the show.

"It was one thing to be brought here in 2012 to play in a show called Nashville, in the city of Nashville, and be accepted by people here. But then to be called back by fans especially, and to be picked up by CMT, was magic on top of everything," Bowen shares. "It’s probably one of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received as an actor -- to be called back the way we were. I can’t tell you anything about the plotlines, but I can tell you it’s just beautiful."

In a true case of art imitating life, as is true for much of the Nashville cast, Bowen is also a talented singer and is working on her own solo album.

"I got to record as myself for the first time this year, and I get all -- I can’t even talk about it," Bowen gushes. "It’s so lovely ... To have been doing everything, between shooting Nashville, the television show, and figuring out who you are and what you are, besides all the characters you’ve been playing, it’s a really exciting and very confronting process."

An Australian-born actress who has traveled all over the world, Bowen says that after discovering Music City, she has no plans to relocate -- and didn't, even when she didn't know what her next move as an actress would be.

"I come from a long line of gypsies, and we move around a lot. But this is the first place I’ve really felt like this is my home," Bowen explains. "We definitely would have stayed. We’re in the middle of writing and preparing for an album, so we wouldn’t have gone anywhere."

Although Bowen is in a stronger emotional state than her character on Nashville, the 32-year-old finds plenty of similarities between herself and O'Connor.

"Now that I’m lucky enough to call myself a songwriter in Nashville, I find that the things that happen in your life come out in your music whether you like it or not. Even if it’s not about the subject matter, it’s funny how it weaves it’s way in," Bowen notes. "Scarlett is singing about what she’s feeling now, as this new creature who, actually, I’m hoping discovers that she is a precious creature who deserves to be loved appropriately.

"I wish I could tell you more," she adds.

Nashville's Season 5 premiere episode will air in its entirety on Thursday (Jan. 5) at 9PM ET on CMT.

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