Sturgill Simpson Cast in Recurring Acting Role in New CBS Series “$1”
This story has been updated.
Sturgill Simpson will make his acting debut as a recurring character in a new CBS television drama series called “$1.” The new series is characterized as a mystery set in a small rust belt town in post-recession America, where a one-dollar bill changing hands connects a group of characters involved in a multiple murder. The series is set to begin taping in March in Pittsburgh, and debut via CBS’s all access video on demand channel on an undisclosed date.
Other cast members include John Carroll Lynch, Nathaniel Martello-White, Philip Ettinger, Chris Denham, Kirrilee Berger, and Gracie Lawrence, with Leslie Odom Jr., Jeff Perry, and Sturgill Simpson set to make regular appearances. The path of the dollar bill and point of view in each episode paint a picture of a modern American town with deep class and cultural divides that spill out into the open as the town’s secrets get revealed. The primary character John Carl Lynch plays Bud “Pop” Carl, who is the owner of the family business called Carl Steel. Nathaniel Martello-White plays a private investigator.
Sturgill Simpson will portray Ken Fry, who is a resident of the town of Braden where the series is set, who used to work at the steel mill until he was let go by Bud Carl. He now makes his living holding a never-ending yard sale with items stolen from peoples’ front yards and porches.
Though Simpson has never worked in any major acting roles before, he has made numerous appearances on television, including in sketches with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, which is also a CBS production. Simpson has also appeared twice on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. He also played a small role in the independent movie Orca Park from 2011, and has made other cameos.
The opportunity is definitely a jump into a new medium for Sturgill. It will be interesting to see how the new series is received, and if it makes the jump to broadcast television.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:17 pm
Very odd, amazing guy. He said on Joe Rogans podcast he is working on new album and it will be a double album.
March 6, 2018 @ 3:21 pm
toby keeth makes intire movie beer for my horses the movie = cricketts
erick church makes artestic master peace san destino risin = tumballweeds
sturgiss has bit part on tv show no wun will wach = trigg rites full lingth artickle fawnin over it
fare play trigg that all were askin for here
March 6, 2018 @ 6:26 pm
can anyone translate this for me? ^
March 6, 2018 @ 7:16 pm
translate a nuckall sanwich for ya in about thurty seconds boy bedder wach it I was savin country music back win yall wur in dippers an u no wut else Im seein a lot of new handalls around here I do not reckagnize that do not no there plase a round here just saw sum no body call ole RD a jack ass no sivility no decoram no more no respect for the legands rain em in trigg Im tellin ya
March 7, 2018 @ 8:45 am
Man the hilarity…
March 6, 2018 @ 12:18 pm
All I can say is, hell yes! He’s very funny and charming in interviews and on Late Night tv. This sounds epic. I always thought Sturgill would have been amazing on Deadwood if it were still on. I can see him as Swearingen’s son or something.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:26 pm
Sturgill is the most interesting man In the world.
March 6, 2018 @ 3:06 pm
In what way?
March 6, 2018 @ 6:02 pm
Honky I don’t love his music as much as everyone on here but I do like some of it. In what way is he the most interesting man in the world?
He has “IT”. A cool nonchalance about him that transcends genre’s etc…. Some guys have “it”. Many don’t. That busking video did it for me and now I hear his music totally different even though it mostly isn’t Country I still like watching and listening.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:50 pm
That’s exactly right. He has IT. Along with an abundance of talent, he just has that intangible it factor. God just kisses some people and Sturgill is one of those.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:31 pm
hey, Honky. 😅
March 6, 2018 @ 6:44 pm
In every way Your Honkyness!
March 6, 2018 @ 8:51 pm
In what way? Every way.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:27 pm
When I see stuff like this it makes me feel like this was Sturgill’s plan all along, not making real country music, which he doesn’t anymore. I like his music quite a bit but I’ve had my suspicions for a few years now he was using the booming “real” country audience to gain superstardom.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:34 pm
Was it Cash’s underlying goal? He went to small and big screen as well.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
As did Willie and Dolly for that matter.
March 6, 2018 @ 1:12 pm
I take each case individually. Sturgill will abandon country
March 6, 2018 @ 1:31 pm
At this point most have abandoned country. But anything Sturgill does I will he a fan. He had me since 2013 SXSW. All my chips are on Cody Jinks, Tyler Childers and Sunny.
March 6, 2018 @ 9:00 pm
I believe Sturgill produced Childers latest album.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:19 pm
He has already said he only plans on making 5 albums .
March 6, 2018 @ 1:06 pm
Don’t forget Dwight
March 6, 2018 @ 12:30 pm
This should cement his douche-pump status and ensure a double album of brass and experimental EDM.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:32 pm
With Leslie Odom, Jr. being cast as well, they better have a musical number.
I am intrigued. This has the potential to be good.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
It’s not his first acting role. He’s been in some B-movies.
March 6, 2018 @ 1:54 pm
Yes, Orca Park was a movie he appeared in in 2011.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:36 pm
Sturgill made a non speaking acting debut for one of his opening acts from his 2014 tour. Either way, I’ll tune in to see him and I’m so curious what he is cooking up with his double album he’s recording.
https://youtu.be/Fn6N1icMU2Y
March 6, 2018 @ 3:57 pm
I think he’ll be a decent enough actor just for this video alone. His mannerisms and facial expressions are pretty well acted. If he can read a script without being too robotic it should be a good performance.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:39 pm
This character isn’t nearly country enough.
March 6, 2018 @ 12:41 pm
He kinda sorta had an “acting role” in that Lucette video a few years back. Played a preacher, if I remember correctly.
March 6, 2018 @ 7:29 pm
With J.D. Wilkes, the baptizing preacher. She murdered Stu
March 6, 2018 @ 1:05 pm
It’s on my “to watch” list.
March 6, 2018 @ 1:05 pm
Trigger you should get SCM shirts printed out “I Discovered Sturgill Simpson” I would buy 3 .
March 6, 2018 @ 1:12 pm
Interesting. Can’t say I will watch it just yet, unless the reviews are amazing since CBS is apparently locking this in on their individual streaming service and as someone who already pays for Netflix and Hulu every month, I can’t say I am interested in paying out an additional $10 for yet ANOTHER service.
Still, good for Sturgill. Hope the series is a success.
March 6, 2018 @ 4:33 pm
So you base your opinion on what other people think?
March 7, 2018 @ 8:55 am
So the musical recommendations that Trigger makes on this site you just ignore? If reviewers I trust give the show good marks, I will check it out. I’m not going to plunk down $10 to try a show site unseen on a streaming service I have zero interest in. I’m not sure what is so weird or controversial about that opinion….
March 7, 2018 @ 8:57 am
I should also note that ultimately I may not like the show, even if the reviews are good. I will make my own decision, but getting good reviews with critics that I generally trust/my tastes align with is a good way for me to try out a new show, especially when this show will not be aired on CBS’ primary network channel and will require me to purchase yet another subscription in order to view it.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:53 pm
Going on reviews is probably not the best course of action. It’s been my experience that most movies I enjoy receive generally negative reviews.
March 6, 2018 @ 8:13 pm
Of course, that could just mean that you like bad movies.
March 7, 2018 @ 4:50 am
Yes, it certainly could. But it also means that if I let other people decide what was worth my time I would never have enjoyed them in the first place.
March 7, 2018 @ 9:02 am
Reviews are a perfectly acceptable path to finding new media. The key is finding critics/reviewers whose tastes align somewhat with mine and going by that. In regards to movies, I tend to ignore critics from the New York Times or The New Yorker because I find that they are the type of reviewers who praise a movie for being weird or diverse (Shape of Water), even if it is crap. However, there are plenty of websites/reviewers who have more mainstream tastes and will tell you if a movie if good (Wind River) or bad (whatever new Adam Sandler movie is out).
March 6, 2018 @ 1:34 pm
If I remember correctly, back when Metamodern was the latest album from him, he had said he was interested in doing a lot more music videos. Guess he’s got an interest in acting too
March 6, 2018 @ 2:10 pm
He was in a movie called Orca Park
March 6, 2018 @ 2:40 pm
This dude is the kristofferson of our time.
March 6, 2018 @ 3:04 pm
I don’t like typing LOL as a response typically. It’s a weak, overused way to dismiss things without actually dismissing them. But honestly, I did laugh at this comment, I swear.
March 6, 2018 @ 4:33 pm
Damn it, Honky. I’m not going to sit here and defend my opinion because you will adamantly oppose whatever reasons I cite to believe this.
We get it, you don’t like Sturgill. A lot of us do. I’d say that by and large, a lot of the longtime readers here feel the same way I do, which is a sense of pride and gratification that “our boy” made it this far. An artist we showed everyone we knew and rallied behind; that we watched rise from regional sensation to what he has become today.
Let us be proud. I don’t hate on you for liking Midland…. all notions of music aside, Sturgill beats all three of those guys in your stupid “country cred” pissing contests based on his blue collar Kentucky background alone.
Get out of here with that shit, grumpy old man.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:04 pm
“This dude is the kristofferson[sic] of our time.”
Do you really not see why somebody would get a chuckle out of that? I would actually love to see you attempt to defend it.
This whole Midland thing’s been blown out of proportion. I like their sound. I acknowledge that they are fakes.
I’ve never said that Sturg-dawg doesn’t have the rural-cred to be a Country singer. I’ve just said that he royally sucks in every fathomable way, and is on track to be one of the most overrated musical acts in the history of American music.
I’m glad that he’s a Rock singer now. I don’t have to hear that “Country Music savior” crap anymore.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:41 pm
Seriously, man. Who spends this much time on someone they don’t like?
March 6, 2018 @ 6:47 pm
Someone who secretly loves the guy to death.
March 6, 2018 @ 7:22 pm
No one will ever convince me that Sturgill didn’t sleep with Cracker’s girlfriend. Seriously, man get over it.
March 7, 2018 @ 8:23 am
Sorry, I did chuckle at the comment, too.
March 6, 2018 @ 3:02 pm
Hey Trigger,
How many bowel movements has ol Sturg had today?
March 6, 2018 @ 4:24 pm
Don’t know. Been busy working on two more stories involving Sturgill coming up.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:34 pm
👍😂👍 give em hell, Trig. 😎
March 6, 2018 @ 6:46 pm
Honk, I bet the product of his bowel movements today were higher quality than any of your comments on this article.
March 6, 2018 @ 7:27 pm
Drum. Drum. Snare.
March 7, 2018 @ 8:47 am
Yea Trigg, go write about Thomas Rhett more.
March 7, 2018 @ 5:11 pm
trigg this ginger thinks hes a rapper and yur gonna let em come in here talkin shit with out lettin me take up for my self?
March 8, 2018 @ 1:33 pm
First off, I have no clue what you’re talking about.
Second, I just told you a few days ago the “C” word is the magic button to getting your comments deleted, and here you are still banging your head up against a wall and expecting different results.
Learn.
March 8, 2018 @ 1:58 pm
The definition of insanity…and why you comin at me bro? I thought my sarcasm was pretty obvious.
March 6, 2018 @ 6:22 pm
Hey folks, I directed Orca Park ( and another short western film he was in titled Black Hog Gut) and I’m usually very quiet about Stu and his early acting stuff, but I will say he is a hell of an actor. He’s hilarious with improv but can also do nuance well. He really gets into the heads of his characters.I think ya’ll are going to be blown away.
Go Stu! Kill it dude
March 6, 2018 @ 6:24 pm
Thanks for chiming in Lewis A. I think we would all love to hear how and where we could watch Sturgill in these performances.
March 6, 2018 @ 7:15 pm
Right on.
Black Hog Gut will be available online late April / Early May on YouTube. Waiting to hear if it will get into the Nashville Film Festival, which is in early May.
Orca Park…. dude I don’t know when that shit will be available to watch. Stu is hilarious in it and it has its moments but honestly there is some shit in that film that make me want bury my head in a pillow for a week. I don’t know maybe one day
March 6, 2018 @ 7:00 pm
Good lord.
March 6, 2018 @ 9:00 pm
I love Sturgill. Always will be a fan but to me the 3 faces of the Country Radio resistance is now: Cody Jinks, Tyler Childers who I think in many ways is better than sturglll and this is coming from a Sturgill fan pre High top Mountain. And the the 3rd face is Sunny.
March 6, 2018 @ 9:03 pm
Meant are now. Brain fart
March 6, 2018 @ 9:43 pm
Huge eye roll to this. I bet this will put food on his plate and gas in his car and I bet he don’t drive no bronco anymore. Maybe someday he’ll make another country record some day till then, the busking Kentucky actor gets little interest from me.
March 7, 2018 @ 3:56 am
Is Sturgill Simpson still relevant for country-music fans?
Un-/popular opinion: he used country music/alt-country/americana music & the fans as a springboard. Like Taylor Swift (well…in her case the alt-country/americana-fans not so much).
Why i want to listen to “I’ll Think Of A Reason Later” now? Well…
March 7, 2018 @ 4:36 pm
No more excuses, no more b.s. sturgill is a sellout. He is just another manufactured personality, it is proven, there are no more excuses to be made. His entire career was planned to circumvent being pigeonholed as a gimmick and to ingratiate himself to us, the alt-country/americana fan base. The music was good, but that’s gone, the realness seemed genuine, turns out it wasn’t. Hang it up….
March 7, 2018 @ 8:40 pm
That’s a funny one! Completely baseless, but funny….
March 8, 2018 @ 7:39 am
Baseless? So we have to pretend like we have not seen this scenario thousands of times. Show business captures everyone’s independence. Stop kidding yourself that Strurgill is different. Kris wasn’t different, even Johnny Cash, What makes you think Sturgill is stronger than Johnny Cash.
March 8, 2018 @ 9:14 am
A silly part in a tv series that he is going to do on an off year after putting out 3 incredible albums in about 4 years is hardly him making a push into show business and abandoning anything about his music. The guy deserves a break, and this small role is not a money grab or a grab for fame. I guess you can see it differently, and that is fine.
March 8, 2018 @ 5:37 am
Is he a sellout because he’s doing a bit of acting now or what?
March 7, 2018 @ 8:07 am
Coming soon to a “Roots Country” radio station near you, Sturgill’s new album of EDM covers of Taylor Swift tunes, recorded entirely on the Casio keyboard he got on his 8th birthday. It’s “experimental/avant garde” and “pushing the envelope on Americana roots country.”
Just kidding of course, but…yeah.
March 7, 2018 @ 9:23 am
Dog gone it can’t you girls just stop fussing and listen to music you like no matter what genre you think it may come from it maybe someone else’s country
March 7, 2018 @ 4:36 pm
No more excuses, no more b.s. sturgill is a sellout. He is just another manufactured personality, it is proven, there are no more excuses to be made. His entire career was planned to circumvent being pigeonholed as a gimmick and to ingratiate himself to us, the alt-country/americana fan base. The music was good, but that’s gone, the realness seemed genuine, turns out it wasn’t. Hang it up….
March 7, 2018 @ 7:16 pm
Because he’s doing a tv show? So Willie, Dolly, Glenn, and all the other country stars who did tv and movies are sell outs too. And his music is still more country than most count artists out there. I’m so tired of this narrative. There’s nothing phony about him. He’s probably too real at this point/
March 8, 2018 @ 7:40 am
Yes, yes they were and this is common knowledge. Selling out is what destroyed country music in the first place. Quit pretending.
March 8, 2018 @ 9:11 am
Makes zero sense. Quite the opposite, actually. That is, doing whatever the heck he wants, knowing it is going to piss off a large portion of his fans. Selling out involves doing something for $, or career, or fame motives that goes against your beliefs. Sturgill is not doing that with this small acting part, and certainly is doing the exact opposite of that with a) changing up the format of his last tour and b) hinting that he probably won’t do another “hard country” album for a while. Up to this point in his so far very short solo career (and prior), Sturgill seems to be doing whatever the hell he wants…..which most of the time has not been good for his overall career vs. a path of staying in his lane and continuing the momentum that was building behind him as a pure country artist. This is the opposite of selling out.