McGraw on music, movies and meeting Tug

Defying expectations is the name of the game for Tim McGraw. Ten CDs into one of the most profitable careers in country music, he’s decided to switch gears and contribute a supporting performance to “The Blind Side,” a football flick co-starring Sandra Bullock and Kathy Bates.

In the past 15 years, ever since he shot to the top of the charts with his first hit single, “Indian Outlaw,” McGraw has been approached by Hollywood producers eager to build a movie around his matinee-idol good looks. But he’s been choosy about his acting roles, shooting only “Flicka,” “The Kingdom” and “Four Christmases” since his 2004 debut in “Friday Night Lights.”

“I’m not really out there looking for movie roles,” he says. “When I get sent a script, I just try to determine whether it will work for me. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the leading role, a supporting role or just a five-minutes-on-film role.”

“The Blind Side,” due in theaters Friday, attracted McGraw with the true story of Leigh Ann (Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (McGraw), a wealthy Memphis couple who adopt a homeless teenager named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) who goes on to college and a career as a defensive tackle with the Baltimore Ravens.

“I was inspired by Michael’s determination,” says McGraw, 42. “It would have been very easy for him to go back to what he knew and take the easy road to doing nothin’. And he didn’t do that.

“I love dark stuff – the darker the better for me, usually – but it was great to be a part of a movie that makes people feel good about people. … In this day and age, rarely do you see a movie family that doesn’t have some kind of dysfunction. But this family is the opposite of that.”

“Sandy’s so down-to-earth,” he says. “We were comfortable right from the start, very natural together. She reminded me of someone who could be my best friend’s little sister.”

Autumn is a busy season for McGraw. In addition to appearing in “The Blind Side,” he’s also promoting his latest CD, “Southern Voice,” which hit stores on Oct. 20. The album, garnering positive reviews, includes McGraw’s trademark mixture of death-haunted ballads and up-tempo toe-tappers. It’s a formula that’s helped him move almost 40 million albums and rack up 30 No. 1 singles.

“I feel like I’m just starting to get into the meat of my career,” says McGraw, who’s launching an extensive North American arena tour in 2010. “I feel like there’s a lot more ahead for me than behind me.”

McGraw has always had a fierce desire to succeed. Raised in rural Louisiana by his waitress mother, Betty, and truckdriver stepfather, Horace Smith, he grew up with hopes of becoming a professional athlete.

Tim was 11 when he accidentally discovered his birth certificate, naming Tug McGraw as his father. For seven years, the pitcher refused to acknowledge Tim as his son. As Tim related to Alanna Nash, in a “Reader’s Digest” story when he was 18, Tug agreed to pay his college tuition on the condition that the men have no further contact. Tim consented to the unusual demand but asked for one last meeting with his father.

In Tug’s autobiography “Ya Gotta Believe,” the baseballer described the reunion with his son as a revelation. “Once I turned around and saw Tim, I knew that he was my boy. It was as if I was looking at a picture of myself 20 years earlier.”

After that, the McGraws grew close, and when Tug learned he had a brain tumor, it was Tim who paid for his medical care. In 2004, Tim ended the video for “Live Like You Were Dying” with a clip of his father striking out Willie Wilson to win the 1980 World Series for the Phils.

“I’m proud of Tug,” Tim says. “He accomplished a lot in his life. I got to know him and realized who he was and what he was about.”

The elder McGraw died a few months before the video premiered, but Tim says he would have loved all the attention. “He was a ham,” McGraw says. “He would have gotten a big kick out of that video. That was my little shout-out to him.”

Not surprising, McGraw is a loyal Phillies fan. Last year, before one of the World Series games, he spread his Dad’s ashes on the pitcher’s mound at Citizens Bank Park.

“It was fun,” he says. “The weirdest part about it was that I had never been to a World Series game. I didn’t get to go to the 1980 World Series because I didn’t know (Tug) then. So, for me, it was just cool to just be there with Tug’s son, my little (half-brother), and to experience the game with him. ”

Ask Tim how he managed to forgive his father for ignoring his calls and letters for so many years, and he says, “I never looked at it in those terms. It wasn’t about forgiveness for me; it was just about moving on with my life. … People make mistakes their whole life, and some mistakes are bigger than others. But I wouldn’t be the person I am if things had been any different.

“My childhood made me determined. I might have been lazy if I’d grown up (in a different situation). I might not have had such a drive to succeed. … I wanted a good life for my family – I always knew I wanted a family – so that was part of my work ethic also.”

In 1996, McGraw married fellow country singer Faith Hill after they met during a joint tour. Together, they have three daughters, 12, 11 and 7.

“Faith is the heart and soul of our family,” he says. “I don’t think anything would get done without her. I know my life would fall apart without her. She’s supportive when she needs to be supportive, and she’s corrective when she needs to be corrective. She’s all the things you’d want in a partner.”

The country singer describes a typical day in Casa McGraw as one in which he gets up at 6 a.m., breakfasts with the family, takes his girls to school, comes home, chats on the phone about business, works out for a few hours and then heads back to school to pick up his children.