It’s safe to say that Reba McEntire and her boyfriend, Rex Linn, are inseparable. So much so that they’ve worked together on several film projects.
The loving pair, who began dating in 2020, co-star in the new Lifetime movie, The Hammer. They also play husband and wife Buck and Sunny Barnes on the ABC hit drama series Big Sky: Deadly Trails. Both stars have also been featured in the cast of The Big Bang Theory prequel, Young Sheldon, on CBS.
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That means Linn regularly sees McEntire’s talent for acting up close and personal. And it’s certain he’s a big fan of her work. He says getting to see how McEntire operates on the set is comparable to seeing a great white shark swimming in the water.
“She doesn’t stop moving. I’m telling you, man, she’s like a great white shark,” Linn, 66, a successful actor himself tells TV Guide Magazine, as reported by TV Insider, of McEntire, 67. “Can’t stop or they’ll die in the water. [Laughs] At least that’s what the scientists tell us.”
Linn also spoke highly of his country legend girlfriend’s natural talent for picking up the script in a quick manner.
“She can look at a page of dialogue for five minutes, and she’s ready to go,” he said, using the term “brilliant” to describe McEntire’s quality acting skills.
In The Hammer, McEntire plays the role of Kim Wheeler, a traveling circuit judge of the 5th District of Nevada. While the storyline, itself, is fictional, her character is based on real-life judge Kim Wankler, who, according to the publication is “known for her fairness, work ethic, taking no guff and that moniker.”
“She’s a kind, caring person but a little spitfire. I just fell in love with the character,” McEntire noted of the role fans will see her portray in the film, which she co-produced alongside The Cartel and Pahrump Pictures with Stan Spry, Eric Woods, Anthony Fankhauser, and Steven St. Arnaud.
Linn, meanwhile, plays the role of Bart Crawford, “a mysterious cowboy with unknown motives.”
“Every scene was fun for me because I was working with her, and I mean that,” Linn says of working alongside McEntire throughout the filming process. “We’ll wink at each other in the middle of a scene.”
The Hammer, Big Sky: Deadly Trails, and Young Sheldon, certainly aren’t McEntire’s first foray into the world of acting. McEntire has previously starred, and executive produced the 2021 holiday film Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune, which also aired on Lifetime.
She has also been featured in films like Tremors and The Little Rascals. Fans will recall, McEntire was the main character on the popular sitcom Reba, where she played a single mother named Reba Hart for six seasons.
And though they’re dating nowadays, McEntire and Linn’s similar work schedule isn’t necessarily new. Before sparking up a romance, the pair met years ago through various projects they worked on since the ‘90s.
“I’d known Rex since ’91, when we worked on the movie The Gambler Returns with Kenny Rogers,” McEntire, previously, told PEOPLE. “Then, in January 2020, I saw him again when I shot an appearance on the TV show Young Sheldon, which he is on. He said, ‘Let’s have dinner when you get through.’ And I said, ‘OK!’ He made me laugh my butt off on our first date, which we didn’t even know was a date.”
“He’s the love of my life,” she added. “We’re pretty much inseparable.”
2023 looks to be a busy time for McEntire. On March 9, she will take the road for the extended leg of her U.S. Reba: Live In Concert Tour, which includes special guests Terri Clark and The Isaacs. The 14-date run kicks off in Jacksonville and concludes on April 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
Big Sky season 3, where she plays the role of Sunny Barnes, meanwhile, returns on Wednesday, (Jan. 4) on ABC. Fans can catch McEntire in The Hammer when the film premieres Saturday, (January 7), at 8:00 p.m. ET on Lifetime.