Reba McEntire’s Boyfriend, Rex Linn, Praises Her ‘Brilliant’ Acting In ‘Big Sky’ And ‘The Hammer’

Reba McEntire’s boyfriend of two years, Rex Linn, is praising the country star on her ability to maintain her steady stream of acting gigs while also staying on top of her prominent music career and showing no signs of slowing down. 

“She doesn’t stop moving,” Linn said of McEntire in TV Guide Magazine’s 2023 Preview issue (via TV Insider). “I’m telling you, man, she’s like a great white shark. Can’t stop or they’ll die in the water. [Laughs] At least that’s what the scientists tell us.”

Linn continued to speak highly of McEntire’s work on set, claiming she is “brilliant” and “can look at a page of dialogue for five minutes and she’s ready to go.”

McEntire also stressed that she is having “a blast” working alongside her boyfriend as co-stars in several of their on-screen roles including the new Lifetime movie, The Hammer, and ABC’s Western crime thriller Big Sky: Deadly Trails. 

“Every scene was fun for me because I was working with her, and I mean that,” Linn added. “We’ll wink at each other in the middle of a scene.” 

Their relationship continues to thrive in the same setting that first brought them together. McEntire and Linn first met in 1991 when they met while working on the movie, The Gambler Returns with Kenny Rogers. 

During this time, their friendship blossomed, but their romantic connection didn’t come to the surface until January of 2020 when they reunited on the set of the popular TV show, Young Sheldon. Things started to fall into place for the couple until the pandemic hit and they were forced to give long distance a try.

McEntire previously shared with PEOPLE that they maintained their budding relationship by utilizing the power of technology. Since they couldn’t talk in person, they began to facetime “four to five times a day.”

“He was in Los Angeles, and I was in Oklahoma because my Mama had just died,” she says. “We didn’t get to see each other from March to June, but we’d talk over Zoom and FaceTime four to five times each day. We created a bond and an intimacy that was getting to know each other without being physical.”

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Now that they are back together in person, McEntire and Linn have found that they are closer than ever, especially when playing the roles of husband and wife in the latest season of Big Sky.

In The Hammer, Linn will embrace his role that can be characterized as “a mysterious cowboy with unknown motives,” and the “Fancy” singer will portray the Nevada traveling judge Kimberly Wanker, which Linn says is “perfect for her.” 

“She’s a kind, caring person but a little spitfire. I just fell in love with the character,” McEntire told the outlet about her powerful character. 

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Big Sky will return on Wednesday (Jan. 4) at 10/9c on ABC, and The Hammer is set to premiere Saturday (Jan. 7) at 8/7c on Lifetime.

On March 9, Reba McEntire will keep the momentum going when she kicks off the extended run of Reba: Live In Concert tour with special guests Terri Clark and The Isaacs.