Louisiana stars win big at 2025 ACM Awards, with country favorites headed near you soon
Kix Brooks, born and raised in Shreveport, took the stage once again as one half of Brooks & Dunn, who grabbed another Duo of the Year win. The legendary pair's long connection to Louisiana's music roots was front and center, proof that Shreveport's influence on country music hasn't slowed down a bit.
Jordan Davis, another hometown name, was also in the building. The Shreveport native served as a presenter this year, standing among the top names in country music. Davis has long credited his time growing up in Shreveport for shaping his sound, and now he's bringing that local legacy to national stages.
Several artists who lit up the ACM stage are set to perform in the Shreveport-Bossier area over the next few months, making the celebration feel even closer to home.
Lainey Wilson, who dominated the night with four major wins, including Entertainer of the Year, is coming to Bossier City later this year as part of her Whirlwind Tour. Wilson, a Baskin, Louisiana native, also took home Female Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, and Artist-Songwriter of the Year. She's no stranger to northwest Louisiana and now she's bringing that winning streak back to the region.
Parker McCollum, who stepped in as a presenter during the show, is also Shreveport-bound. The Texas artist has a stop booked at Brookshire Grocery Arena this July, keeping his strong fan base in Louisiana close.
Gretchen Wilson to headline R&B Jazz festival after winning The Masked Singer
Gretchen Wilson also made an appearance at the ACM Awards as a presenter. Fresh off her win on The Masked Singer Season 13, Wilson will be in Natchitoches for the upcoming Jazz R&B Festival May 10, 2025.
The 2025 ACM Awards may have been held in Texas but make no mistake the heart of country music was pulsing from right here in northwest Louisiana.
And with all these artists headed our way soon, the celebration's far from over.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Suggested by u/bvmse Gene Wilder wanted the role of Jim in Blazing Saddles, but director Mel Brooks thought he was too young. "I need an older guy — someone who could look like an over-the-hill alcoholic," he told Wilder. He went with Gig Young, who was known to struggle with alcoholism in real life, which Brooks thought would work well with the character. However, on the very first morning of filming, Young was dealing with alcohol withdrawal — which was made worse by the fact that his character was upside-down. "We draped Gig Young's legs over and hung him upside down. And he started to talk and he started shaking." At first, Brooks thought this was just great acting. Suggested by u/hedbopper But..."The shaking never stopped, and green stuff started spewing out of his mouth and nose, and he started screaming." 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Dano was nominated for a BAFTA for his role as the twins. Suggested by u/MrAldoRayne Director John Carpenter was unsure about casting Kurt Russell as R.J. MacReady in The Thing and only decided on him the day they flew out to film the movie. There's actually a scene where MacReady flies a helicopter that's not even Russell — it's a pilot in the character's costume because they didn't have Russell on hand yet. The film ended up being one of Russell's best roles. Dianna Agron was cast the day before the pilot for Glee began shooting. Producers were actually about to cut her character as they hadn't found someone for the role — and her casting ended up vastly changing how they envisioned the character. Series creator Ryan Murphy said Agron "ruined the part" for him because she "humanized" Quinn. "She can cry at the drop of a hat. So now her character has a conscience, a soul, and great vulnerability." Murphy was right; Agron imbued the character with a complexity that elevated the role beyond a basic cheerleader role. Viggo Mortensen was cast after production began for The Lord of the Rings. He replaced Stuart Townsend, who was deemed too young for the role and fired the day before filming began. "I felt unprepared," Mortensen revealed. "The other actors had been there for weeks and months, in some cases, preparing for the arduous task of shooting the whole trilogy. I also felt awkward because I'd never been in a position of replacing another actor." Despite his fears, Mortensen killed it in the role. Suggested by u/revdon Stuart Townsend was also replaced in Thor just days before the start of filming. Josh Dallas was cast in the role instead after "creative differences" (though there were rumors Townsend had been late for a screen test and was fired), and he only had a few days before he had to film. Nevertheless, he did well in the small role. Stanley Tucci similarly replaced another actor days before production began. After Ryan Gosling was cast in The Lovely Bones, he started drinking melted ice cream and gained 60 pounds because he "really believed he should be 210 pounds." However, he didn't communicate this to director Peter Jackson, who "had a different idea of how the character should look." When Gosling showed up on set to film, Jackson fired him. Tucci was cast in the role instead, and was the perfect level of creepy. Peter Jackson's wife and collaborator Fran Walsh said it was more Gosling's youth that led to him being ousted, saying Gosling believed he was too young for the role and "was so uncomfortable moving forward, and we began to feel he was not right." Speaking of Tucci, he accepted his role in The Devil Wears Prada only 72 hours before the start of shooting. "I was cast at the 11th hour," Tucci told Entertainment Weekly. 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A week before Prison Break began shooting, it didn't have either of its leads. Wentworth Miller was cast only a week before shooting. And Dominic Purcell wasn't officially cast until three days prior to filming. Both actors were perfect for the role and contributed to the show lasting five seasons. Similarly, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, who played two of the leading roles in Jaws, were cast only nine days before shooting began. Both earned critical acclaim for their performances. Michael J. Fox was cast in Back to the Future five weeks after it started filming. Eric Stoltz had initially been cast in the role and even filmed for multiple weeks before director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale decided he didn't have the right comedic tone for Marty. They decided to replace him with Fox, their first choice for the role. However, they couldn't do this right away (Fox was still busy shooting Family Ties) and continued to film with Stoltz for days knowing they wouldn't use the footage. It ended up becoming Fox's most memorable role. Suggested by u/Drewp655321 Sam Waterston was cast in Godless at the last minute because the actor who was supposed to play Marshal John Cook got sick. He only had four days to prepare for the role — yet he killed it in the critically acclaimed series. Chris Sheffield was cast in The Maze Runner so late that the director, Wes Ball, and the producers for the film were already in Louisiana, preparing the production. A few days later, Sheffield was heading to Louisiana, too, to shoot, crafting a strong performance despite his lack of preparation. David Hayman was cast days before Bull started shooting because the original actor had dropped out. "I had no time to think about it," Hayman revealed. "I love Paul Andrew Williams's work. His movies and work are challenging. I love the cast. So it was a no-brainer for me to do it." Hayman's performance was highly praised in reviews. Patrick Renna was the last actor cast in The Sandlot after another actor dropped out only two days before production started on location. Director David Mickey Evans called meeting Renna a "godsend" as he was perfect for the role. Michael Biehn was cast in Aliens weeks into filming, as James Remar had recently been fired after getting arrested for drug possession. According to Biehn, Aliens producer Gale Anne Hurd called him on a Friday and asked if he had a current passport — which, luckily, he did. By Monday, he was on set, giving a legendary performance. Suggested by u/jayseventwo Ed Harris was cast to play Christof in The Truman Show when principal photography was almost done, and shot for only 10 days. He replaced Dennis Hopper, who left the cast due to "creative differences." Harris was nominated for an Oscar for the role. In a pretty unprecedented move, Christopher Plummer was cast in All the Money in the World AFTER the film had been entirely shot. Replacing Kevin Spacey in the wake of his sexual assault allegations, Plummer reshot all of Spacey's scenes in just nine days. He was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the film. Suggested by u/boringwhitecollar Similarly, Tobey Maguire had already filmed all of his scenes for Life of Pi when the director decided to replace him because he was too famous, making his presence distracting. Rafe Spall was quickly cast in Maguire's role, putting him in the rare position of being cast AFTER a movie was technically "complete," though, of course, he had to reshoot all of Maguire's scenes. This was probably the right decision, as I can't picture Maguire in this role. Ben Whishaw was cast as the voice of the titular teddy bear in Paddington after the film was shot. Colin Firth had initially taken on the role but came to a mutual agreement with producers that his voice sounded too mature. "That was a bit scary because it was late in the process. We'd shot the film, but it was the right call," recalled producer David Heyman. Firth's exit was in June, and the film was set to come out in November. Luckily, since Whishaw was just providing a voice, they could still finish the movie for its November release. Paddington would end up becoming critically acclaimed, with Whishaw's voice fitting perfectly. The same happened with Scarlett Johansson in Her. Samantha Morton had originally been cast and worked on set throughout filming. While editing during post-production, director Spike Jonze "realized that what the character/movie needed was different from what Samantha and I had created together." They recast Johansson in the role in the 11th hour, re-recording the character's dialogue. Johansson's voice ended up being a much better fit for the role. 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