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Tim McGraw: Acting Is Like ‘Making An Album’

Tim McGraw has made himself a nice career in Hollywood as an actor in many big movies like the Oscar-winning film The Blind Side in 2009, The Shack in 2017,…

Tim McGraw poses with a beard, wearing a black blazer.
Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

Tim McGraw has made himself a nice career in Hollywood as an actor in many big movies like the Oscar-winning film The Blind Side in 2009, The Shack in 2017, The Kingdom in 2007, and Country Strong in 2010, to name a few.

While he has done a lot of acting roles over the years, the country superstar has managed to keep his music career in check and has consistently scored number-one songs. His recent single, "One Bad Habit,' is his latest chart-topper.

In 2021, Tim gave an incredible and emotional performance in 1883, a Paramount series that starred Tim alongside his wife, Faith Hill. The couple played James and Margaret Dutton in the Yellowstone origin story.

Over the years, I've interviewed McGraw many times, and in one interview, he talked about acting. The country superstar told me, "I love doing it and it's a good spot for me to find. I love to just go in and find that spot and dive into it."

He continued, "But it's not unlike doing a record or making an album. I think that when you're in a studio, and you're in a dark room with the lights off, and you've got the headphones on, and you are singing this song - yeah, it's your voice, and you're singing it and being emotional about it - but you're singing about a character that is walking through a scene."

Tim added, "I think the same way when I'm doing a character in a movie. It's my job to go in and make people interested in how this guy's life is going to turn out."

In 2022, McGraw told me of his role in 1883, "I learned that you can work through being really tired, 'cause it beat us up pretty good. It was a lot of hard work, but it was such a gratifying experience. I think more than anything, the hard work from the crew, the hard work from the actors; I learned that it's one of those things that you can't show up and expect to be good."

He concluded, "You have to put the work in, and you have to put your heart and soul into something like that. And I've always felt like I've done that with every project that I've ever done, but I also think every project I've done outside of music has made me a better musician."

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.