Tim McGraw Turns to Acting to Relieve Anger

Posted by Stephanie Myers on 06/22/2010
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Tim-McGraw
For Country Music superstar Tim McGraw, creative outlets are his cure. According to AOL’s The Boot, McGraw has personally dealt with anger issues for most of his career, specifically with him label, Curb Records. But now, the singer wants to put it all behind him.
 
"I didn’t want to battle anymore. You get in your own little world and sometimes you don't realize you're the only one battling,” McGraw told Nashville's Tennessean newspaper.
 
McGraw has also had other anger issues affect him over the years. Despite headlining sold-out tours, McGraw said he once was a different man onstage versus off, but relishes letting his past problems go.
 
"There was some legitimate anger and some illegitimate anger, and a lot of times I should have just shut up and sang instead of being worried about what someone said about my wife [Faith Hill] in the paper, or what someone on a radio station was saying," he acknowledged.  "I probably had some legitimate gripes that I handled the wrong way. Plus, I drank too much for a while. I've been sober for two years now, and that's done a lot to help me let go of a lot of things."
 
McGraw said his wife’s success as a multi-platinum-selling artist stirred some of his animosity, but not because of jealousy.
 
"There was a time when I thought, and there's still a tinge of truth to it, that when Faith and I got married, there was this thing where people liked the idea at first, and then they didn't like the idea that both of us were successful," he reveals. "So they were going to figure out how to knock one of us down. I got the attitude in my mind that that's what was going on, and I fiercely defended her, to the point where I ticked a lot of people off. And if you're in a high-profile situation where you feel like you're fighting windmills everywhere you turn, it starts getting dark to you."
 
Acknowledging his anger, McGraw said he turned to another creative outlet, acting, to help keep him in balance.
 
"Acting and music, one helps the other," McGraw explained. "As an actor and as a singer in the studio or onstage, you're trying to create empathy. With both of them, you're creating these scenes and wanting someone to attach themselves to the character. In acting, I've seen myself get better. But I feel like I'm about 30 percent as good as I think I can be. It's like with singing, when I go into the studio and have these notions of, 'This is how I'm going to sing this song.' Then I hear it back and ... it's just me. There I am again.' I just want to be good."
 
McGraw recently starred in the wildly successful film, The Blind Side, with Sandra Bullock and just finished wrapping up his next one, Love Don't Let Me Down, with Gwyneth Paltrow. His music is keeping him busy as well. He’s in the studio finishing his final album for Curb Records and is on the road with his Southern Voice tour with Lady Antebellum, Lost Trailers and Love and Theft.
 
Source: The Boot