‘1883’ Star Faith Hill On the 1 Scene With Tim McGraw That Made Her ‘Really Uncomfortable’

ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Faith Hill and her real-life husband, Tim McGraw, are currently starring in the Yellowstone prequel 1883.
• The country music superstars set some ground rules for working together.
• Still, Hill admits that filming one scene made her “really uncomfortable.”

The Yellowstone prequel 1883 stars Faith Hill alongside her real-life husband, Tim McGraw. The series marks the first time the two have acted together, and Hill says it’s not always easy playing a married couple on-screen. The duo faced plenty of challenges while filming season 1 — including one scene that made Hill “really uncomfortable.”

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw set up ground rules for working together on ‘1883’

McGraw made his acting debut in 2004’s Friday Night Lights, and has since appeared in eight more films — including the Oscar-winning The Blind Side. Meanwhile, Hill’s acting resume has just a couple of credits — 2004’s Stepford Wives and 2017’s Dixieland.

With 1883 being their first acting project together, the couple decided to set up some ground rules to help their respective performances.

“We have made it a point not to work on our scenes together until we’re on set,” Hill told People. “It’s important that we react to one another naturally as characters, not as husband and wife.”

Filming on location was challenging for the country music superstars

Hill and McGraw filmed on location in both Montana and Texas for 1883, and they faced a myriad of challenges during the four-month shoot.

There were rattlesnakes to consider, fields covered in cow patties, the unforgiving Texas heat, and the “many layers of clothing” that made bathroom breaks nearly impossible.

“Sometimes you’re successful and sometimes you’re not,” Hill confessed.

One ‘1883’ scene made Faith Hill ‘really uncomfortable’

Hill says that the most difficult day of shooting featured a scene where her and McGraw’s characters — Margaret and James Dutton — took a bath together.

“It was really uncomfortable for me personally because I’m a very shy person in that type of situation,” Hill explained. “I obviously feel comfortable with my husband, but this is different. For intimate scenes, I feel like that belongs to us.”

The singer says that creator Taylor Sheridan closed the set on the day they filmed the bathtub scene. And she admits that it “turned out to be beautiful.”

Faith Hill and Tim McGraw celebrated their 25th anniversary on set

1883 was shot during the fall of 2021, which meant that Hill and McGraw were on set for their 25th wedding anniversary. Hill says that on that day — Oct. 6 — their “big celebration” featured her “hauling a** in a carriage through a river.”

McGraw says he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He noted that it’s “been incredible to do scenes” with his wife and watch her work.

“We had this scene where she had to slap me. I was expecting a finger slap but it was a paw to the jaw. There was 25 years of pent-up aggression going on!” McGraw jokes. “When you see it on screen, you realize it was a genuine hit.”

The ‘1883’ star is now a wagon-driving ‘expert’

Another challenge Hill and McGraw faced while filming 1883 was riding horses and driving a wagon. McGraw says that just about every scene he shot with his horse included the animal trying to throw him into the middle of the river. While being on the wagon was “really intense” and took a lot of work.

“Faith spends the most time drivin’ the wagon during the show, so she spent a lot of time doing that to where she’s pretty expert at it now,” McGraw told Taste of Country.

“I mean, that’s a harder deal than people think it is, to drive a wagon. Those things can get really serious really quickly, especially when crossing the river. It’s just so treacherous and so dangerous. I mean, you never knew where the holes were in the river. You never knew how deep it was.”

New episodes of 1883 drop Sundays on Paramount+.