Reba McEntire has an entirely different career — and a successful one — outside of music. The 67-year-old is an actress, currently appearing in both the Lifetime TV movie, The Hammer, as well as the ABC series, Big Sky, starring in both of them with her boyfriend of three years, Rex Linn.
“She doesn’t stop moving,” Linn boasts to TV Guide of McEntire (via TV Insider). “I’m telling you, she’s like a great white shark. Can’t stop or they’ll die in the water.
“At least that’s what the scientists tell us,” he adds with a laugh.
In The Hammer, McEntire plays judge Kim Wheeler, while Linn plays a rich tycoon who is trying to keep his son out of jail.
“Every scene was fun for me because I was working with her, and I mean that,” Linn says. “We’ll wink at each other in the middle of a scene.”
McEntire and Linn also appear together in the CBS comedy, Young Sheldon. Although Linn’s list of acting credits might be longer than his girlfriend’s, with roles in Tin Cup, CSI: Miami, Under the Silver Lake and more, he is in awe of McEntire’s “brilliant” acting skills.
“[She] can look at a page of dialogue for five minutes and she’s ready to go,” Linn reveals.
McEntire, whose own acting credits include roles in Tremors, The Little Rascals, her own Reba TV show and more, has one dream acting job that has yet to come to fruition, and it’s unlike anything she has ever done before.
“I would love to be in a Marvel movie,” McEntire previously told Billboard. “I’m going to leave it open. I could play a hero or the villain, but I think I’d have more fun being the villain.”
The Grand Ole Opry member loved filming The Hammer, not only because of the role she played, but because the cast includes Linn and her former Reba co-star, Melissa Peterman.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” McEntire said on The Bobby Bones Show, speaking of filming The Hammer. “Rex Linn, my boyfriend’s in the movie, Melissa Peterman’s in the movie also. We shot it in Canada, and just had a blast … We had a blast shooting it.”
The Hammer premieres on Lifetime on Sunday, January 7. Big Sky returns to ABC on Wednesday, January 4 at 10:00 PM ET.
McEntire will resume her Reba: Live in Concert Arena Tour on March 9 in Jacksonville, Florida, with Terri Clark and The Isaacs serving as her opening acts. Find more information at Reba.com.