Kelsea Ballerini has revealed she tried out for a spot on The White Lotus‘ second season, which would have seen her playing Tanya’s (Jennifer Coolidge) assistant Portia.
Speaking to People at the Variety Power of Women Nashville event on Thursday (May 1), The Voice coach confessed to auditioning for The White Lotus role that ultimately went to The Edge of Seventeen star Haley Lu Richardson.
“I have no shame in my game,” Ballerini said when asked what acting roles she’s tried out for. “I auditioned for the second season of The White Lotus for the role [of] Jennifer Coolidge’s assistant that Haley did.”
Even though the “Cowboys Cry Too” singer didn’t land the part in the hit HBO series, she has no hard feelings. She praised Richardson’s performance, saying she acted it “so brilliantly and beautifully,” adding, “But yeah, I did audition for that. Fun fact.”
Jennifer Coolidge, Haley Lu Richardson; Fabio Lovino / ©HBO / Courtesy Everett Collection
The multi-time Grammy-nominated singer made her acting debut last year in the new ABC medical drama Doctor Odyssey, which follows a medical team aboard a luxury cruise ship, navigating unique medical crises and each other miles from shore.
Ballerini starred in the sixth episode, playing Lisa Parsons, a “bridezilla” who wreaks havoc as she and her wealthy family board The Odyssey for a weeklong wedding cruise.
The country music star opened up about her move into acting in an interview with Women’s Health in October 2024. She said it was part of her mantra to “Run toward things that scare you.”
However, she did have her share of worries. “What if I suck on TV?” she recalled thinking before realizing, “Then you know what I do? I’ll go put on my glitter and go back onstage. That’s always going to be home base.”
Kelsea Ballerini on ‘Doctor Odyssey’; Disney/Tina Thorpe
Ballerini, who joined this season of The Voice as a first-time coach, said she “learned so much” while on the set of Doctor Odyssey.
“I wasn’t reserved on the fact that it was my first time,” she told People at the show’s premiere back in September. “So I asked a lot of questions and I feel like I learned so much, and I really hope that I did the character and the show proud.”
If Ballerini ever needs acting tips, she has a great coach to turn to: her actor boyfriend, Outer Banks star Chase Stokes. She admitted to initially being cautious about stepping on his territory.
“I’ve always called acting his world, and so whenever I was asking him questions about this opportunity, I was like, ‘What about this in your world?’” she told the outlet. “And he was like, ‘Hey, it’s just a world. I’m a part of it, and now you’re a part of it. It’s not my world.’ ”
She concluded, “By the end of the conversation, I was like, ‘OK, so you’ll run the scene with me?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”