Is Tim McGraw leaving music to act in films like The Blind Side? Special

Multi-platinum Country music superstar Tim McGraw has been bitten hard by the acting bug. Could his brilliant performance in The Blind Side mean that Faith Hill's hubby is ready to leave Nashville music-making behind for the glitz & glamor of Hollywood?

One of the biggest country stars in the world, the multi-platinum plated, Louisiana-born singer/songwriter Tim McGraw (whose recently-released album, Southern Voice, immediately went Number One and has been sitting in the Top Ten of the country music charts for several weeks since it’s release), the son of pro baseball player Tug McGraw and the father of three young daughters with fellow Country music superstar Faith Hill is once again flexing his acting muscles by taking on a starring role in The Blind Side, a biopic based on the Michael Lewis’ book The Blind Side: Evolution Of A Game. The biography chronicles the true story of NFL player Michael Oher’s (Quinton Aaron) real-life journey from a homeless son of a crack-addicted mother to the hottest, most highly praised and well-paid new players in the NFL after being adopted by the well-to-do, Memphis, Tennessee Tuohy family — headed by the charitable, unstoppable matriarchal force known as Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock). No newcomer to taking on difficult and challenging film roles, McGraw — who has landed major, unforgettable parts in such hit films as Friday Night Lights, Flicka, The Kingdom and Four Christmases — says that after reading the script, he felt a real kinship with his onscreen alter ego, Sean Tuohy, the still living and breathing former pro baseball player and successful Memphis buinessman, who, along with wife Leigh Anne, took Oher into their home and made him a part of their family. Writer/director John Lee Hancock, who adapted the non-fiction bestseller for the screen, also noticed the immediate connection between McGraw and Touhy and thought the country crooner would be perfect to bring Sean to life on the big screen. “We always had Tim in mind for the role, but we weren’t sure he would do it,” says Hancock, whose directorial credits include The Rookie and The Alamo. “I really loved his work in his earlier movies and he just seemed to have all the qualities we were looking for to play Sean." While McGraw admits he and Touhy do share many emotional and physical traits, he was determined to not simply turn in a carbon copy performance of Touhy in The Blind Side. “More than anything else, I wanted people to understand the spirit of Sean, because I wasn’t trying to imitate anybody — I wouldn’t want to imitate Sean for anything,” McGraw admits during a recent LA press outing for the film. “But, I think that I could relate to him in a lot of ways. We both grew up in Louisiana, he was an athlete, I was an athlete, although I wasn’t quite the athlete that he was. And, also, as a kid — I’m going to give him a few years and say high school — but I remember him working for Old Miss, as a kid growing up in Northern Louisiana, we got to see a lot of Old Miss games, and like Leigh Anne, I have a wife (Faith Hill) that runs everything at home,” he says with a laughs. "So, I think that I can relate to Sean in a lot of ways, and the script was so well written. I really just to capture the essence of him, not really try to imitate anybody.” Although McGraw is already receiving great critical notices for his stunning performance in The Blind Side, don't expect McGraw to hang up his guitar and give up his day job anytime soon for a career in Hollywood. “I’m not going to give up music since it pays my bills,” he says with a smile. “When it comes to acting, I give it my all. I was very serious about this particular acting job, I tried to be anyway.” Despite spending the better part of the year on the road playing for his fans or in the recording studio making new music, McGraw is confident he can successfully maintain two careers. “I just have to find things that fit in the same schedule that I have,” he explain. “I only have a few months out of the year that I am available to do something. I was so lucky that something of this great, this quality of people to work with came along at a time that I was available to work.” Can he ever see a day when he would give up his music for a life in the Tinsel Town limelight? “No, I’m not going to give up music, it’s who I am, first and foremost.” But what if a once-in-a-lifetime role, directed by one of the greatest directors on the planet came along, and he could have the lead part, but it would mean having to cancel one of his tour. Couldn’t he just postpone the road trek until the movie had wrapped? “I could, if I wanted to,” he answers, “but it would have to be something that would be hard to turn down, for sure. But, for me, music and the fans that have been loyal to me all along are more important to me. Another good role with always come along. I would never disappoint my fans, even for a great movie role. ” The Blind Side opens nationwide on Friday, November 20, 2009