Photo: CBS
Jelly Roll shared glimpses of his experience on the Fire Country set ahead of his on-screen acting debut in a new episode of the CBS drama on Friday (April 11). The reigning iHeartRadio Music Awards Country Artist of the Year also debuted “Dreams Don’t Die,” a new ballad that appears in the show.
Jelly Roll will guest star as Noah, “a healthcare worker and former convict who is in the process of turning his life around,” per CBS. Fire Country stars Max Thieriot, Kevin Alejandro and Jordan Calloway, following “a young convict (who) joins a firefighting program looking for redemption and a shortened prison sentence. He and other inmates work alongside elite firefighters to extinguish massive blazes across the region.” Fire Country’s official Instagram account has shared sneak peeks of Jelly Roll’s acting debut throughout the week.
“I’ve been singing about redemption. Now I’m stepping into the fire to live it,” the Beautifully Broken hitmaker said in a clip shared by Fire Country that offered a preview of the soon-to-premiere episode. In another clip, Jelly Roll shared a glimpse of his “first day ever acting. I like it a lot. …I’m playing a guy who has a second chance, man, who’s been in and out of prison, but lost his mother due to dementia. So, my form of rehabilitation for myself and to give back as a man of service, was I came to work at the local nursing home. I really found myself in this guy. When I came home from my last time being incarcerated, where I was so determined to change who I was as a human. If music didn’t work, I have a feeling I wouldn’t have been far fetched from being Noah, working somewhere, someplace, just trying to help people.”
Thieriot praised Jelly Roll for his work and “the message that you’re spreading, (which is) making a huge impact on a lot of people.” Jelly Roll thanked him for “building the entire show around second chance humans. I mean, I think it’s the heartbeat of America. And I think that’s why this show has been such a success, man, I’m just honored to be able to bring my style of storytelling to it.”
Fire Country airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+. Listen to Jelly Roll’s “Dreams Don’t Die” ahead of his debut on the show here: