Australian-born actress/singer Clare Bowen is best known for her sudden rise to stardom as Scarlett O’Connor on television’s Nashville with Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere. Now, in Dead Man’s Burden, Ms. Bowen plays a different sort of young woman: one with a long-range hunting rifle. Bowen’s lead character, Martha Kirkland, is a badass in a smokin’ new western. Rotten Tomatoes got the opportunity to chat with Clare, and we wanted to hear more about Martha (Dead Man’s Burden) and Scarlett (Nashville), and what it’s like to film in the desert. Here’s what Clare had to say:

RT: You’re making quite a name for yourself now, and it’s exciting you have an indie movie coming out, called Dead Man’s Burden. I saw it, and it’s amazing to me how different your role is from one to the other, because in Nashville, it’s such a sweet, sweet role, but in Dead Man’s Burden, you’re a badass. What was it like preparing for that kind of role? How was it different?

Clare Bowen: Nashville’s like the biggest thing I’ve ever done. It’s all about empathy, I think, having empathy for your character and what they’re going through. I don’t know how you’re supposed to understand, when you haven’t lost your entire family, to try and put yourself in the shoes of somebody who has, somebody who’s trying to survive. So I just equate it to a wild creature trying to survive, and everything that she was doing was for survival, whether it was right or wrong or horrible or sweet.

Some people work in a way of writing everything down and I do that a lot now, you know, working through a really set method that somebody else has created, but I think I’ve taken lines from a lot of places. It appears to be… it’s just the way I work, and I’ve tried different stuff for a long time. But for me, it’s just whatever comes out of me.

RT: Yeah, a lot of the greats say things like, “I don’t know. I go on set and I say the lines,” and it comes out amazing.

CB: It’s just about listening to the other person, which means talking to them, communicating. If you don’t have anybody there, be with yourself and be with that character and try to own it. How would you feel if everybody around you was dying? You need to try and get there, and different people have different ways of doing it.

“Everything is just bigger in the U.S.,” Australian beauty Clare Bowen says, reflecting on the time she’s spent working here. “Australia has a great film and television industry, but it’s very gritty. But in America, the possibilities are just wild.”

And Bowen is taking full advantage of those possibilities. Whether it’s starring as the angelic singer/songwriter Scarlett in ABC’s “Nashville,” or the tough Civil War-survivor Martha in “Dead Man’s Burden,” which opened on Friday, Bowen’s showed she has range well beyond her years. She’s even found time in-between projects to start work on her own solo album.

Here, Bowen shares her tips for making the transition into the American entertainment industry, how to balance research and character, and the importance of staying true to your own process.

Find a home base when auditioning.
“Finding your way around a new city for the first time is always a hard,” says Bowen, who herself tackled L.A. a little over a year and a half ago. “But finding your way around a new city at the same time while you’re trying to do pilot season? That’s crazy.” The challenge for Bowen was less about trying to navigate L.A.’s complicated traffic system, and more about having a home base. “When you’re trying to work on multiple characters when you’re going for castings, you need a place where you’re grounded,” she says. “You need a place where you can think and get situated.”

Remember, casting directors want to find you.
“People get really nervous in auditions…like they have some sort of inferiority complex,” Bowen says, thinking back to her first auditions in the States. “And it’s like, ‘No no no, they really want to find you!’ When you walk into that room, they want you to be the one.” Bowen says remembering that always helps calm her nerves. “That’s what they’re looking for!”

Do some research, but don’t let it define your characters.
For her role in “Dead Man’s Burden,” Bowen spent a fair amount of time researching the film’s setting: 1870 post-Civil War fragmented America. “We don’t learn about it in Australian schools,” she explained, “So I did a certain amount of research to get a basis for what was going on in my character’s life.” Ultimately, though, Bowen didn’t allow her character, Martha, to be defined by the history books. “She is suffering incredible trauma,” she says. “And it’s not about some political venture. It’s not about being a confederate; it’s not about slavery; it’s not about politics of The South. It’s about her family, and the limits to which they push her. She’s just trying to survive.”