Clare Bowen

When one hears a story of a 5-year-old girl with cancer, one generally expects to hear the worst. In the case of Clare Bowen, it turned out to work out for the best. Bowen, born in Australia, was diagnosed with cancer when she was 4 years old, and dealt with chemotherapy and more until she was cleared of cancer at age 7. After dealing with that, she took to the stage in school, loving theater in all its forms. She followed that love to university, where she studied the creative arts and also appeared on stage throughout the country. She continued to do more theater in Australia after graduating from school in 2006. It wasn't until 2009 that she started acting in television and films, with her first work being a guest appearance on an episode of the Australian drama "The Cut" (ABC1 2009). Alongside the film "The Combination" (2009), Bowen appeared in numerous Australian TV shows and short films, mostly in one-off roles. Her first American role was in "Dead Man's Burden" (2012), a Western that only made it as far as a tepid reaction at the Los Angeles Film Festival. However, the film led Bowen to "Nashville" (ABC 2012- ), the Connie Britton-starring musical drama. On the show, she played Scarlett O'Connor, an up-and-coming country music star. Bowen performed all of her character's songs, appearing on various "Nashville" soundtracks. She even began writing her own solo material while she starred on the show.