Can a lesbian in Texas be the next 'queen of country music'? 'Monarch' star Beth Ditto gives it a shot
As a multiplatinum recording artist and the frontwoman of the indie rock band Gossip, Beth Ditto knows a thing or two about the cutthroat nature of the music
As a multiplatinum recording artist and the frontwoman of the indie rock band Gossip, Beth Ditto knows a thing or two about the cutthroat nature of the music industry. But in “Monarch,” the soapy new Fox musical drama in which she stars opposite Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon and Grammy nominee Trace Adkins, Ditto has stepped into the worlds of acting and country music — an experience that one could describe as a baptism by fire.
Created by Melissa London Hilfers, “Monarch” follows the Romans, America’s fictional first family of country music, who are left to defend their place atop the charts while contending with the imminent loss of their matriarch, Dottie Cantrell Roman (Sarandon), and the waning influence of their patriarch, Albie Roman (Adkins). Ditto plays Gigi, the youngest of Dottie and Albie’s three children, who, in spite of her musical talents, has always avoided the spotlight and felt like an outsider due to her weight and sexuality. But with her mother’s health declining, Gigi unwittingly finds herself in a battle with her older sister, Nicky (Anna Friel), and their family’s rivals to become the new “queen of country music.”
“Gigi has all these issues with feeling like an outsider,” Ditto said. “She’s feeling like [her siblings] don’t understand how unloved she felt and that they both got encouragement and support and praise that Gigi never got, because her mom just didn’t get her.”
The role is a dramatic departure for Ditto, who admitted that she had been seriously considering a career change and working in childcare when she received an auspicious audition in the summer of 2021 for, as she described it, “a plus-size, lesbian country singer.” Ditto, who auditioned four times before landing the part, said she related to the feeling of “being overlooked” and “suppressing” parts of one’s identity out of fear of being treated differently.
“I was like, ‘Well, that’s me. I know this person,’” Ditto, who hails from a liberal family of nine in Arkansas, told NBC News in a recent video interview. “I’m actually Southern. I grew up with country music. I grew up going to the honky-tonks surrounded by music. I think all of the parts that I’ve done have been for pretty much Southern women, and I know Southern women — these are my grandparents, my aunts.”
Rating: 5