How 1883 incorporated Rita Wilson into its Old West tale

Why should hubby Tom Hanks have all the fun in 1883?

In the sixth episode of the Paramount+ drama, Rita Wilson got to star alongside her real-life pal Faith Hill in a moment that takes place on the Texas and Oklahoma border. Wilson, whose husband, Hanks, appeared in week 2 of the series opposite Tim McGraw (James Dutton), played a trading post clerk who ends up boozing it up with stranger Margaret Dutton (Hill).

Margaret enters the trading post after watching her daughter Elsa (Isabel May) threaten to shoot a grimy hick who dared to ogle her when she and her mom rode into town.

"Some of the cowgirls are ranker than the cowboys," Wilson's character says to Margaret as she enters the trading post. "They ain't never had a mother."

Margaret admits that the "cowgirl" is actually her daughter, so Wilson's character offers an apologetic beverage. A booze fest ensues.

"Clearly, there was no fun had shooting these scenes!" Hill wrote on Instagram.

"It was an honor to share the screen with you and Tim," Wilson responded. "You are both excellent in this series. So proud to be a part of it. And, oh, yeah, we had ourselves some fun!"

Wilson also teased her appearance on IG.

Hill and her real-life husband, McGraw, are longtime friends of Wilson and Hanks. For the second episode of 1883, McGraw asked Hanks to appear in a flashback sequence as a uniformed general named George Meade.

"You never want to botch a scene when you got Tom Hanks in there with you," McGraw told CinemaBlend. "But yeah, he's a great guy. We've been friends for a long time. Rita, his wife, and Faith are best friends, and Tom and I've been friends for 25 years, 24 years. I knew that there was this part in there, and I gave him a call and said, 'Hey, would you be interested in showing up doing a cameo in this show that we're doing?' And he goes, 'Tell me when to be there,' and he just showed up."

Launched on Dec. 19, 1883 follows the Dutton family as they traverse the Old West in hopes of finding greener pastures in Montana. Episode 6 of the series, which is designed as a prequel to Yellowstone, dropped today. You can watch the first six episodes of 1883 on Paramount+.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• Inside the star-studded Yellowstone prequel 1883
• Meet Isabel May of 1883
• Let it rip: Why Cole Hauser's Rip Wheeler is the best character on Yellowstone