Tim McGraw has spent the past more than three decades as a country music superstar. But even McGraw had to endure plenty of menial jobs before finding success as a singer. Raised by a single mother who struggled to make ends meet, McGraw did whatever he needed to do to pay the bills, even if he loathed some of his early jobs.
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"Picking tomatoes in Louisiana," McGraw recalls as one of his least-favorite jobs. "I mean, I had a lot of bad jobs. Picking tomatoes is a pretty nasty job. Pulling coffee weeds in rice fields is not a good job either, especially with water moccasins everywhere."
McGraw credits his mother with teaching him about hard work, lessons he still relies on today.
"I think more than anything is her tenacity," McGraw tells his record label, revealing what he admires the most about her. "You know, my mom worked three jobs with us growing up, and was in some abusive relationships. She really worked hard and really instilled a sense of belief in ourself, and to dream and to always go for stuff."
Tim McGraw Reveals His Favorite Job
Picking tomatoes might be among McGraw's least favorite jobs, but he does have a favorite job as well. The father of three has also had several acting roles, in addition to being a singer. But for him, being an artist will always be his favorite job, although acting is a close second.
"Singing is my first love for sure," McGraw says. "I wouldn't have been able to get into acting without having some hit records first, I guess. But acting's hard. It's not easy. People think that it's easy, and it's not. When you're on set and the cameras start rolling and you're standing there with some legends that you're having to act with, it can tighten you up just a little bit."
Still, the 58-year-old would love to find another acting role like 1883, which he filmed alongside his wife, Faith Hill.
"We were shooting 1883 for six months," McGraw recalls. "Sometimes six days a week, 14 hours a day on horseback and terrible weather conditions - either burning hot or freezing cold. It was a lot of hard work, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But we had such a great time, and it was a great experience for Faith and I together. I would love to do another Western somewhere down the road."
