Country music superstar Reba McEntire will join the cast of “Big Sky,” which was just renewed for a third season on Tuesday, author C.J. Box told Cowboy State Daily.
McEntire is going to be one of two major guest stars next season, alongside former “Supernatural” lead Jensen Ackles, who guest starred in the finale of season two as Beau Arlen, who will step in as a temporary sheriff in season three.
“We’re thrilled that ‘Big Sky’ got picked by ABC for a third season and that both Reba and Jensen have been added to the cast,” Box told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
McEntire will portray Sunny Brick, who is described by Deadline as “the mercurial matriarch of the Brick family, a successful backcountry outfitter with a secret history of missing customers.”
“Big Sky” is adapted from Box’s Cassie Dewell series of novels, the latest of which, “Treasure Hunt,” is due out in September, the author said.
“I’m not sure about the storylines for next season, since they’ve used most of them from the previous books already,” Box said.
In season two, private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick) reunite to investigate a car wreck outside of Helena, Montana, and they soon discover that the case might not be as straightforward as it seems.
While the series is set in Montana, it has been filmed in Vancouver, Canada, and New Mexico.
The show has received both popular and critical acclaim, with even horror author Stephen King praising it as one of the best series on television right now.
It has also attracted a litany of guest stars in addition to Ackles and McEntire, including “The Sopranos” star Jamie-Lynn Sigler and film actors Logan Marshall-Green and Ryan Phillippe.
Despite being a country legend, McEntire is no stranger to acting. She had a long-running series, “Reba,” during the 2000s and has appeared in films such as “Tremors,” “Spies in Disguise” and “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.”
Ackles is best known for his longtime role on “Supernatural” as Dean Winchester and will soon appear in the third season of the critically acclaimed series “The Boys” as Soldier Boy, a dementedly satirical take on Captain America.
In addition to “Big Sky” being renewed for a third season, Box’s other adapted series, “Joe Pickett,” is now streaming on Paramount+, although it originally debuted on the Spectrum Network.
Interested viewers can use the code “PICKETT” to view the streaming service for one month free.
Pickett has been renewed for a second season.
“‘Joe Pickett’ has gotten very good reviews, which is great,” Box said. “And it was the number one show on Spectrum where it debuted, which is even more exciting.”
