Exclusive Interview: Nancy Travis, Tiera Skovbye, and Beau Mirchoff Talk Ride and Exploring Family Dynamics and Identity

Nancy Travis, Tiera Skovbye, and Beau Mirchoff are three of the stars of Hallmark Channel’s must-see new series, Ride.

Ride is a multigenerational family ensemble following the lives of the McMurrays, part of a rodeo dynasty going back a generation, as they struggle to keep their beloved ranch afloat. After a tragic loss, each character embarks on an empowering journey of transformation and self-discovery while also uncovering a twisted web of secrets, threatening to tear the family and their small Colorado town apart at the seams.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Nancy, Tiera, and Beau about Ride, bringing nuance to their multifaceted characters, and exploring family dynamics in the face of grief.

PC: Nancy, you’ve had such an illustrious career in the industry in front of and behind the camera and on the stage and screen. What was it about Ride and this character that attracted you to it?
Nancy: I fell in love with this woman and where she is in her life and the fact that she’s a woman that is very much her own person. She’s not on the arm of some man. She’s really trying to stake a claim for her ranch, for her family, and for her place in the community. She’s a wonderful, multifaceted character. I love where this show is set. It’s on this gorgeous ranch. It’s a world that I knew nothing about—the world of rodeo and ranching. It’s a dream come true. I knew it as soon as my agent called and was like, “There’s this project.” I said, “I want it. I have to be that person. I’m Isabel.”

PC: Tiera, so much of Missy’s arc in Season 1 is about writing her own story and not being defined by her trauma and loss. She’s embracing the fact that she may not know what the future holds and that’s okay. You’ve handled that journey with so much nuance. As an actress, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into that arc?
Tiera: It’s something that everybody is always navigating to a certain extent. There are different varying degrees of grief and trauma, but I feel like given the place that I’m at in my own life I’m able to pull from my past experiences. It’s that journey of self-discovery and where your place is in the world, who you want to be, and the story that you want to tell. It’s something that everybody is always navigating. It was a really fun experience to play with that. Then also a really interesting part of that journey of self-discovery for me was asking myself the questions that Missy was asking herself and bringing that to the character as well.

PC: Beau, Cash has this immense pressure to carry on his family’s legacy and help save their ranch, but he’s also battling his own internal demons, whether that’s PTSD, anxiety, or a combination of both. You’ve brought so much depth to that vulnerability. What has it been like getting to collaborate with the writers and finding those moments where Cash can let his walls down and express the pain that he feels underneath, often without dialogue?
Beau: It’s been a really great process. The character was always there. He was always this war veteran. He’s someone who’s struggling with bull riding, his family, his love life, and all of that. He’s contending with who he is as a man at this point in his life. My job was, “How do I tap into that? How do I make that authentic and realistic?” That’s the fun part. It’s like what Tiera was saying about the journey of self-discovery. You don’t really know how it’s going to go. Every time and character, it’s different. You’re like, “I’ve got to get on top of that mountain. How do I do that?” Every time you pick a different route. I’m continually surprised with the process and what I discover about myself, the character, and all of that. I was always in dialogue with the writers. We would bounce ideas off of each other. It was a really, really collaborative experience.

PC: Nancy and Tiera, something that I love about this story is that it features so many strong female characters who are uplifting one another. Who are the women in your own lives who shaped the storytellers that you are today? Did you channel them into your character?
Tiera: This answer is going to make me cry.

Beau: I felt something with that question.

Tiera: I’m literally getting teared up. My little sister is upstairs in the hotel. It’s my sister, my mom, and my grandma. My grandma helped raise me. My sister and I are best friends. My mom has supported me in everything that I’ve done, and she’s the reason that I am who I am. Definitely those three.

Nancy: I have to say it’s been all the women in my life: my mother and my grandmother. Also, the men in my life too: my dad, my husband, and my sons. They love storytelling and are very respectful of and enamored by the magic of the creative process. My grandmother used to love to go to the movies to see “Cauliflower Ears.” Clark Gable, that’s what she called him. It’s anyone who loves this business.

PC: Beau, in addition to the mental preparation that you had to do for this project, you also shot on location, and there’s an unpredictability that you have to account for when you’re working with animals. How did that setting help elevate your performance and bring that authenticity that we see on screen?
Beau: That’s a great question. The environment is a character in the show. It really is. I mean, the mountains and the ground, you’re there, you feel this world. It’s so important. When you’re preparing for a role, a lot of it can be in your head and it’s not really outside of you. Then when you get on the ranch, you understand this person who’s more comfortable with the trees, cows, and mountains than he is oftentimes with other people. You feel that. You feel the earth. You feel the wind on your face. You understand who this character is and what his whole life is about.

Nancy: Also, the people. Not only are we on a ranch where we’re seeing horses, foals, and cows, but we’re with people that are actual rodeo performers and riders. We got to understand their way of life, be with them, and talk to them. It starts at a very early age. They put very young children on horses and they learn how to rope and ride. Being a part of the fabric of their lives was incredible.

Beau: It’s one thing to read about it, it’s another to actually see it. These are family-oriented people who care for their animals and this holistic idea of existence. It’s cool.

Tiera: It creates this vastness but also this closeness. The land is so vast and feels so powerful, but then these families, people, and communities come together to create this tight-knit world to perceive the bigger world.

Nancy: They’re very welcoming. I definitely felt like we were embraced and included in a way that other environments don’t always provide.

Beau: They’re salt of the earth people.

PC: This series tackles so many universal themes. Each audience member will take something different away. Was there a theme for each of you that hit home?
Nancy: Family for all of us, for sure.

Beau: Definitely family. But also this idea that we all love each other but there’s also the complexity of and struggle with what it means to be a family. Sometimes, people want to break free and do their own thing and be independent, but then coming back they also realize that this is what’s important in life.

Nancy: Also, what can you bear? What is unbearable? It’s an interesting dilemma.

Tiera: There’s also a huge element of grief that’s very deeply steeped in this family. To have that underlying thing that in a way pulls people apart but is also the thing that unfortunately binds this family. To have that be something that we’re all navigating to different degrees, while trying to find our identities and holding each other together while being pulled apart, it’s very complex and interesting. It creates these stories and the dynamics of this family, this community, and this ranch.

Make sure to follow Nancy (Instagram), Tiera (Twitter/Instagram), and Beau (Twitter/Instagram). Ride premieres on March 26 at 9/8c on Hallmark Channel.