Tim McGraw's 'Strong-Willed' Daughters Remind Him Of His Onscreen Daughter

Tim McGraw is one of the biggest country stars in the industry and a talented actor — and he’s also a family man. The “7500 OBO” artist recently opened up about how his relationships with his own daughters influences his onscreen father-daughter relationship on the hit Paramount+ series 1883.

McGraw plays James Dutton, whose daughter is Elsa (played by Isabel May). In a statement shared by his record label, McGraw drew similarities between his onscreen father-daughter portrayal and his relationship with his three real-life daughters, Gracie, Maggie and Audrey. McGraw shares his daughters with fellow country artist Faith Hill, who stars alongside her husband as Margaret Dutton in 1883. The real-life husband-and-wife duo teamed up on the highly-anticipated Yellowstone prequel series, playing the great grandparents of Kevin Costner’s character (John Dutton) in the original show.

Here’s what McGraw said about James Dutton’s father-daughter relationship with Elsa in 1883:

“You see a lot in the relationship between that father and daughter. I think a lot of it is explained in one line – she loves like Margaret, she fights like me. And to me, that says everything about James and Elsa‘s relationship, that he understands her and he understands the passion that she has. But I also think he knows that she’s a grown-up. He’s wary, as any father would be, but he has enough trust and respect for her that he tries to stay out of her way as much as he can and still be a guiding hand when it’s important. And that’s the same way that I’ve always tried to treat my daughters. We’ve taught our girls from the very beginning to be strong-willed. And sometimes that’s backfired on me, to have four women in my house who are very strong-willed. And so, sometimes dad gets thrown under the bus.”