Tim McGraw stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday evening (Feb. 2) to chat about his role as James Dutton on Yellowstone prequel 1883, working with his longtime friend Tom Hanks, and Colbert even got the hitmaker to sing a quick cover.
When Colbert asked the country hitmaker about Tom Hanks joining the star-studded 1883 cast, McGraw explained that Hanks, who he dubbed one of the nicest men in show business, and his wife Rita Wilson, who also appears on the popular series have “been friends for a long time, they’re just great people.”
“This cameo thing came up, and I called Tom and said, ‘Look, I don’t want to put any pressure on you, I know you’re Tom Hanks and you can do anything you want to do in the world, but if there’s any chance you’d be interested in this cameo,’” McGraw continued. “He goes, ‘Tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.’ He showed up, was so sweet, he went to everybody on set [and] shook hands, took pictures with everybody. He couldn’t have been nicer. It was really special.”
McGraw previously shared that working with Hanks brought him to tears.
“To me, it was one of the most moving scenes in the show,” McGraw said. “And it starts with an original picture from the battleground scene.”
“You find out that [my character James Dutton] was a Captain in the Civil War and I had a lot of PTSD from that,” McGraw continued. “No matter how good of friends you are and how well you know someone, when you’re sitting there in a scene that’s that emotional, and you see Tom Hanks walk up in a Union uniform, and look at you and say ‘Captain.’ And then he just sat beside me, and he puts his hand on my shoulder, and he goes, ‘I know.’ I just fell apart. That’s somebody that knows what they’re doin’. He was just really good.’”
After chatting about Hanks and McGraw’s friendship, Colbert asked McGraw if he could sing the show to a commercial break.
“We got to go here in just one second, but I was hoping… would you mind? We have a mic here, and you’ve been known to sing a tune. I’m just curious if you’d be willing to sing something out to break. I know you didn’t come here to sing,” Colbert asked of McGraw. “You came here to act… but that part’s done.”
Colbert then handed the microphone to McGraw for an impromptu performance of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Joined by Jon Batiste and Stay Human, McGraw sang the iconic John tune while sitting in a blue chair beside Colbert.
During the country superstar’s time at The Late Show’s studios, he got to meet the other special guest from the show, Martha Stewart, which you can see a photo of below.
One day before McGraw’s appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, his wife Faith Hill joined Colbert to chat about her role as Margaret Dutton and opened up about having empty nest syndrome.
Click above to watch McGraw’s cover of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.”
