Kix Brooks Takes ‘Drastic’ Measures for New Movie Role

Fans may have been surprised when Kix Brooks announced that he was going to appear in the upcoming film 'Thirftstore Cowboy,' but the singer-songwriter has had the acting itch for quite a while.

"I was a theater major in college," Kix tells Phoenix, Ariz. radio station KMLE. "I was determined to get a piece of paper at the end of my education, since my parents had spent all that money for me to drink beer for five years. [laughs] I had to be in the orchestra or the school choir to get my music major, and I was playing bars four nights a week at that point, so that wasn't going to happen. I jumped in there and did some plays and stuff. It was really fun.

"I was actually in a William Saroyan Pulitzer Prize winning play called 'The Time of Your Life,' which was pretty cool," he continues. "And another one, that Alan Alda played the lead in the film, that was called '6 Rms Riv Vu,' [about] a couple of people who got locked in an apartment. Then, I wrote a three act play for my senior project."

Fast forward 30-something years later, and Kix's new acting gig has him parting ways with the mustache that's graced his face for 30 years, in order to become 'Thriftstore Cowboy''s Wade Locklin. "My kids have never seen me with out a mustache," he reveals. "Alan Jackson told me, 'Never shave your freaking mustache off.'"

But despite his buddy's advice, Kix did what he had to for the role. "[Wade Locklin] is a real bad guy, and I was having a hard time getting past my happy-go-lucky self," he explains. "He's not down-to-the-soul bad, but he's in with some really bad guys and he's trying to keep up with them. He's going the wrong way and probably not what I would generally do as a human being. I did something drastic so I could look in the mirror."

However, there is one aspect of acting that the Louisiana native didn't anticipate. "The thing that really took me aback is the people we're working with: they're serious actors and been in a lot of movies," he reports. "I had practiced my lines and even recorded them ... and got pretty good at it. The first time on set when some actor squares off with me and stares me in the eye -- these guys go into their characters immediately and I've got to really think about what I'm doing -- they get in my face and start yelling something, I'm like, 'Uh ... line?! Line?! [laughs] Time out. I need a do-over.'"

'Thriftstore Cowboy' is currently filming around the Phoenix area. A release date has yet to be set. More information will be available summer 2012.