Reba McEntire‘s Lifetime TV movie, The Hammer, premieres this weekend. The film, which co-stars McEntire’s boyfriend, Rex Linn, and former Reba co-star Melissa Peterman, will debut on Lifetime on Saturday, January 7, at 8:00 PM ET.
In The Hammer, McEntire plays Kim Wheeler, a tough lawyer who is appointed Judge of the 5th District of Nevada, and is one of the few traveling judges left in America.
“I loved the script for The Hammer and could definitely identify with the tough, no-nonsense spirit of the real life person it was based on,” McEntire says of her role. “Also, how could I say no to getting to work with my boyfriend, Rex Linn, and my Reba TV show co-star Melissa Peterman again? We had the best time!”
McEntire previously said she loved filming The Hammer, largely because of the people she got to work with every day.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” McEntire shared 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. It will be out, I’m thinking next year, January sometime. I’m just now seeing the editing, I’m trying to get through the final stages of the movie. We had a blast shooting it.”
The Grand Ole Opry member knew as soon as she read the part of Wheeler, which is based on a true story, that she wanted to take on the role.
“She [Kim] is quite the character,” McEntire said (via The Star Tribune). “She’s a little-bitty gal. But what she does and how she stands up to people who have done other people wrong, she makes it all fair. You listen to her, and go, ‘Well, that makes sense. Why don’t more people do it like that?'”
McEntire’s acting skills recently earned high praise from Linn. The two also appear together on the CBS comedy, Young Sheldon, as well as ABC‘s drama, Big Sky.
“She doesn’t stop moving,” Linn boasted 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.”
McEntire has appeared in other movies and TV shows, but her first priority is her country music career, although she says there are a lot of similarities between who she is on stage and who she is on screen.
“I act on stage, too, when I’m singing because I become a character for all of the people in the songs,” McEntire explained (via UPI). “Like when I sing ‘Fancy,’ I am the mother that had to let her daughter go out into the world.”
More information on The Hammer can be found at MyLifetime.com. McEntire will kick off the 2023 leg of 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.
