Reba McEntire: Inside What Really Inspired Her to Start Acting

Reba McEntire has conquered the country music world, but she’s also been a fixture on TV for years. How did the singer go from country queen to multi-hyphanate? It all started with one early music video.

As The Country Music Hall of Fame shared, the music video for singer’s 1986 song, “Whoever’s in New England,” provided the initial source of interest in acting. The video feels like a miniature film in itself, with McEntire playing a wife whose husband is being unfaithful.

The music video became the first of many from McEntire to feature a complex storyline to match the song, rather than just footage of her singing. Eventually, music videos led to movies and television, starting McEntire on the path to “Happy’s Place.”

One McEntire Music Video Became a TV Movie

Reba McEntire smiling while on stageGettyReba McEntire performs onstage during Opry 100: A Live Celebration at Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on March 19, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Most music videos are standalone projects, one McEntire music video made its own leap from music to television. The 1991 video for “Is There Life Out There” tells a strong, memorable story, and it nabbed McEntire an ACM for Video of the Year. In 1994, the story got a new, expanded life as a TV movie of the same name.

The film was one of McEntire’s early leading roles, as she played protagonist Lily Marshall. Although fellow singer Huey Lewis starred as her husband in the music video, McEntire found herself sharing the spotlight with actor Keith Carradine in the movie version. Of course, this wasn’t her first-ever acting role; McEntire famously started as Heather Gummer in “Tremors” back in 1990.

Another Early Role Came Courtesy of Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers and Reba McEntire singing togetherGettySingers Reba McEntire (L) and Kenny Rogers perform onstage during Muhammad Ali’s Celebrity Fight Night XX held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa on April 12, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona.
In 1991, McEntire experienced an extremely difficult moment when a plane crash tragedy claimed the lives of eight of her band members. Several country stars stepped in to lend McEntire support, including the late Kenny Rogers.

As Taste of Country shared, the singer credits Rogers with helping her overcome the tragedy by encouraging her to lean into acting. “Kenny saved my sanity in ’91 when he asked me to come do ‘The Gambler’ movie,” McEntire shared. The singer starred as Burgundy Jones in “The Gambler Returns: The Luck of The Draw,” later that year.