‘Nashville’ Star Oliver Hudson Reveals What It’s Like To Play The Villain And Why His Character Jeff Fordham Has Issues With Women

ABC's Nashville is in its third season and this year has already been full of drama and scandal, a lot of it revolving around Jeff Fordham. Oliver Hudson, who plays Fordham on the hit show, is explaining what it's like to play the villain and why his character is so anti-women.

Oliver took over People's weekly Nashville blog after the second episode this season and revealed that his character, Jeff, who is the head of the Edgehill record label, is slowly losing his mind. "Jeff seems to be unraveling slowly-it feels like he's verging on a mental breakdown and spiraling out of control," Oliver wrote on People.

"You would think Jeff is in career-saving mode, but he is still aloof and egotistical and says things that aren't necessarily beneficial in saving his career. That's why I feel like Jeff is going crazy," he explained.

Even though Jeff is easily the most hated character on the country music based show, Oliver admits it is fun to play the villain. "To be candid, it's fun playing the villain. But once you establish the villain, you want to understand why he is the way he is. Even villains have souls," the 38-year-old said.

"Why did he become this way? We will explore that a little bit. A few things have been written already to plant a seed on why Jeff may be the way he is. Technically, the show is dealing with 16 characters and there are a crazy number of storylines."

Jeff has been known to attack the women on the show by tearing them down and trying to ruin their careers. After pissing Rayna James (played by Connie Britton) off enough to leave the label, Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere) quickly followed. With only male powerhouses, Luke Wheeler (played by Will Chase) and Will Lexington (played by Chris Carmack), left on his label, he is floundering.

This season he is trying to recruit Sadie Stone (played by Laura Benanti) to be the face of the female side of his label in order to keep his job. With how poorly he has treated any woman he comes in contact with, it seems unlikely that she will sign with Edgehill, especially if Rayna has anything to say about it. But why is Jeff so against the women on the show anyways?

"It's funny ... I would not say he hates women. For Jeff, art is money. If it's not making him money, it's not artistic. He's a bottom-line guy," Oliver revealed. "I don't think he hates women but he has intimacy issues. Rayna wasn't making him money at the time and she was going up against him and they were butting heads."

Tune in Wednesdays for all-new episodes of ABC's hit Nashville.