Pro wrestling legend Chris Jericho is set to star in the upcoming UPtv original movie “Country Hearts,” Variety has learned exclusively.
The film, which will premiere this fall, follows “the daughters of country music and rock & roll royalty who find themselves at a crossroads, torn between following their dreams of performing or helping their father run their up-and-coming horse breeding business,” per the official description. “Between old flames, new love, best friends and family – they’ll all need the strength of each other to face the next steps.”
Along with Jericho, the cast for the film also includes Lanie McAuley, Katerina Maria, Brendan Morgan, Jeff Irving, Craig Strickland, David Pinard, Michelle Nolden, Genevieve Fisher, Roy Lewis, Lara Amersey, Greg Ellwand, Bebsabe Duque, Celine Bauwmans, and Neil Whitely. A sequel, “Country Hearts Christmas,” has been greenlit already.
“After playing evil priests, insane asylum security chiefs, redneck social media whistle blowers and cult leaders, I jumped at the chance to play a nice guy for once in ‘Country Hearts!’” Jericho said in a statement. “I was able to flex my acting chops and my character range in these movies and it was a blast to play Bones Jamieson…father, ranch owner and rock star…which basically mirrors me in real life!”
“Country Hearts” was written by Jennifer Snow. Marco Deufemia is the director. Beth Stevenson, Nancy Yeaman, Stan Hum and Rebecca Lamarche from Brain Power Studio serve as executive producers.
Jericho has wrestled for most of the major wrestling promotions in the world, including long stints in WWE. He currently works for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he was the organization’s inaugural world champion from Aug. 2019-Feb. 2020.