Tony Winner Jessie Mueller on How Filming Patsy & Loretta Inspired Her to Start Writing Music

Tony winner Jessie Mueller swapped legit Broadway for country when she went from her acclaimed turn as Julie Jordan in Carousel to her first leading screen role as country music icon Loretta Lynn in Lifetime Television's upcoming movie Patsy & Loretta. Starring alongside Tony nominee Megan Hilty as Patsy Cline, the TV movie tells the true story of the friendship between two of country music's biggest stars and marks the first time the two Broadway favorites have worked together. "We first met at Stephanie J. Block's baby shower," Mueller told Paul Wontorek in a recent episode of Broadway.com's #LiveatFive. "We kind of had a first date in Nashville. We tried to go to a barbecue place but when we opened the door it was trivia night, so we went across the street and had wine. We clicked pretty quickly. She's a dreamboat."

Although Mueller has been seen on-screen before, this marks her first leading turn in a movie. "I've never had this big of a part before," she said. "The blessing of it was that there was so much to do that I quickly had to get into the micro-version of it all. I had to learn to play guitar chords and bar chords that I've never done before. We're playing these iconic singers and they had every right to say we're going to use the original recorded material, but they let us sing. It was really fun to take that on and tackle it."

Mueller has played her fair share of strong women on stage, and Loretta Lynn is another added to the list. "I think she's always had a fire and a feistiness in her," Mueller said. "There was a lot of shyness in the beginning and she really struck me as a genuine lady. What you see is what you get. It's fun to try to get inside somebody like that, but also intimidating as well. Just the accent alone was tough, I had to make sure I wasn't using my Jenna voice [from Waitress]."

After spending several weeks filming in the South, Mueller found surprising inspiration. "I've actually been writing a lot," she said. "I should say I'm dabbling, it sounds like I've been in the studio. It's not that intense yet. But honestly, the time in Nashville really got me thinking about getting into the studio and working on music. So I hope that continues and something happens with it."

Be sure to watch Patsy & Loretta on October 19 on Lifetime Television!

Watch the full #LiveatFive episode below!