The Role You Forgot Trisha Yearwood Played On JAG

Trisha Yearwood is no stranger to the public eye. Her debut single "She's in Love with the Boy" skyrocketed her to the top of the charts in 1991. In her country music career, she had nine songs chart on the Hot 100 (via Billboard). Those statistics don't even include the other musical genres she's contributed to. On top of all of that, she's also enjoyed an acting career, a 25+ year marriage to fellow country superstar Garth Brooks, and written several cookbooks while also hosting a show on the Food Network (via In Touch).

While music will always be number one for Yearwood — as she told In Touch, "It's what I feel like I was born to do" — acting also holds a special place in her heart. She told the outlet that she's interested in performing on Broadway someday and that she'd "love to find a little role in an independent film."

Other than her dozens of music videos, her longest stint as an actor came in her recurring character in the military TV series "JAG" from 1998 to 2002 (via IMDb). So, what was it about that role that kept Yearwood going back to the series for several years while also juggling her music career?

When Trisha Yearwood took on an appearance on CBS' hit military series "JAG" in the late 1990s, the country singer was excited to play someone that was different than herself, according to the Chicago Tribune. Her character, Lt. Commander Teresa Coulter — a military forensic pathologist — was certainly different from the country music star she was and is. "It was the first time that I had done anything where I played a character," Yearwood told the Tribune. "I've been asked to do a couple of things where I played a country music singer, or I played Trisha Yearwood. Which I know how to do pretty good."

Yearwood told the Tribune at the time that a recurring character role wasn't such a commitment that it would interfere with her music, so it was something she liked to do. She called her character "a really smart and very [much] an expert in what she does" who wasn't "impressed" with the machismo of lawyer/pilot Harmon "Harm" Rabb Jr. on the show.

More recently Yearwood can been seen in her Food Network series "Trisha's Southern Kitchen" since 2016 and in the same year, she played Mary in the TV movie "The Passion" (via IMDb).

Performing is not the only thing music power couple Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks pride themselves on. The two are known for their charity work as well. Brooks and Yearwood have been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for more than ten years after going to New Orleans to help following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina (via Habitat for Humanity). They've also given their support and time to other projects including the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project and National Women Build Week (per Habitat).

When asked by Habitat about her meaning of "home," Yearwood gave an answer that her JAG character Lt. Commander Teresa Coulter would be proud of: "When I think of home, it is that safe place, one of those things that you don't really think about every day if you have always had a place to live. The thing that I have learned through volunteering with Habitat is everybody doesn't have a roof over their head." She added, "But what I love about Habitat is that it provides that basic first step that creates a haven and a safe place."