Clint Black and his wife Lisa Hartman Black stepped out for the premiere celebration of the upcoming Lifetime movie, When I Said I Do, at The Franklin Theatre in Tennessee, where the couple opened up about turning their chart-topping, award-winning duet into a Lifetime movie and revealed the secret to their longlasting marriage.
Ahead of the Nashville-area screening on Tuesday (May 12), the beloved couple walked the red carpet and spoke with Music Mayhem about serving as executive producers on When I Said I Do and appearing alongside each other in the romance movie.
“We love appearing in anything together. 35 years of marriage almost… We were honored to be asked and Adam Reed called and had an idea and we loved it and here we are. We’re still pinching ourselves,” Lisa Hartman Black began. “It’s just wonderful. The turnout is beautiful and the actors in it are wonderful and we have a small part in it and thank goodness because we save the day.”
Clint then added, “I was excited about how much involvement we would actually have in shaping the movie. So anything creative and collaborative for me is fun.”
Reflecting on the recording of their duet nearly three decades ago, the country music icon and Knots Landing actress shared that they never could have imagined it would grow into what it became, or that it would eventually inspire a film all these years later, but said they are grateful that it did. “We didn’t know it would do any of the things that it did. [The song] went to number one twice and won an ACM Award and people get married to it and renew their vows and now it’s a movie and seeing it brought to life in a film is amazing. I mean, it’s a gift,” Lisa Hartman Black continued.
“You never know where a song is going to go and what it’s going to do and we would have never imagined a Lifetime movie coming of it,” Clint added.
Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black also opened up about the secret to their nearly 35 year marriage. The superstar couple tied the knot over three decades ago in October 1991, during an intimate ceremony on the “Killin’ Time” singer’s 180-acre farm in Katy, Texas. The couple also shared one daughter, Lily Pearl Black.
“Well, communication is everything, wouldn’t you say?” Black said looking at his beautiful wife to which she replied, “Yeah, we never leave anything unsaid, undone, unsettled, and we’re best friends and we respect our friendship and I think that’s really key. You have to respect your friend.”
Black then shared a piece of advice that Roy Rogers shared with them, “don’t ever go to bed angry,” which Black says is “great advice.”
When I Said I Do stars Sarah Drew and Eric Johnson, and is inspired by Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black’s Grammy-nominated hit of the same name that topped the Billboard Hot Country chart for multiple weeks and crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. The film follows Ali Corley (Sarah Drew), a widowed search-and-rescue K-9 handler rebuilding her life after tragedy, and Shawn Willis (Eric Johnson), a fellow rescue specialist with a complicated past, as they navigate grief, healing, and the possibility of love again.
Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black serve as executive producers on the film and make special appearances as themselves, portraying hosts of a relationship podcast that plays a key role in guiding the emotional journey of the movie’s characters.
The movie, part of Lifetime’s Love of Lifetime slate, is set to premiere Saturday, May 22 at 8/7c via Lifetime.
