Tim McGraw says wife Faith Hill slapped him for a scene in '1883' way harder than he was expecting

• Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill are costarring in the "Yellowstone" prequel series "1883."
• "I was expecting a finger slap but it was a paw to the jaw," McGraw told People in an interview about one fight scene.

Country singing icons Tim McGraw and Faith Hill costar in the new "Yellowstone" prequel series titled "1883" on Paramount+. The real-life married couple play James and Margaret Dutton, a fictional married couple who don't always get along.

"We had this scene where she has to slap me," McGraw told People in a recent interview. "I was expecting a finger slap but it was a paw to the jaw."

He continued in a joking tone, according to People: "There was 25 years of pent-up aggression going on! When you see it on screen, you realize it was a genuine hit."

McGraw and Hill met at a Nashville gig in late 1994 and wed in October 1996. The couple marked their 25th anniversary on while filming the show this past fall.

According to Deadline, the prequel also stars Sam Elliott, Billy Bob Thornton, Isabel May and LaMonica Garrett, and will serve as the origin story of how "Yellowstone's" Dutton Family came to own the largest ranch in Montana. It follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America.

Though this is the first time the two have appeared on a TV show together, they're each familiar with the acting world. McGraw appeared in 2004's "Friday Night Lights" and alongside Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side." Hill appeared in 2004's "Stepford Wives" and 2017's "Dixieland."

"We have made it a point not to work on our scenes together until we're on set," Hill said in the People interview. "It's important that we react to one another naturally as characters not as husband and wife."

"I've never had so much fun in my life," McGraw said.

"1883" premieres December 19 on Paramount +.