Reba McEntire Debuts In ABC's Big Sky As A Villain

ABC/Michael Moriatis

We've seen Reba McEntire star in Lifetime Christmas movies, play Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun and make us laugh in her sitcom Reba. We've seen her glammed up and singing onstage at the Oscars and duetting with Dolly Parton. We've seen her as a restauranteur, podcaster, and a fashion magnate. We've seen the star in so many different roles over the years, but we've never seen Reba like she is on Big Sky. That's because on Big Sky, she plays * gasp * a villain.

"I didn't want to come on as Reba McEntire," she told EW in an interview before the forthcoming new season. "I wanted to play somebody else. I get to play me all the time. I wanted to be a character, and to be a dark character is even better."

In the show, which is based on the series of books by C.J. Box, Reba gets her chance to go dark. She plays wilderness outfitter Sunny Barnes, the matriarch of a new family "glamping" business, but with a seriously dark streak, especially when someone threatens her family or pries into the many, many secrets she has buried deep in the past and in the mountains.

Showrunner Elwood Reid told TV Guide that he thinks the darkness in this character is what convinced Reba to sign on to the role. "[Sunny] has this outward American Pie Chevrolet demeanor, and everyone buys that," he told TV Guide. "We, the audience, get to see glimpses of a different Sunny Barnes. As the season progresses, you begin to see, "Oh my God, there are layers to this woman. She's even darker than I thought. Is she gonna go there? Oh my God, she went there."

Can't wait to see what trouble Sunny —and Reba—get into during this season of the crime drama.