WAITRESS Star Joe Tippett Joins Jessie Mueller in PATSY & LORETTA

Joe Tippett and Kyle Schmid are set to star opposite Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller in Lifetime's Patsy & Loretta, according to Deadline.

The original movie about the friendship between country music stars Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn is directed by Nashville creator CALLIE KHOURI with Neil Meron, who worked with Hilty on Smash, executive producing.

Patsy & Loretta is based on the untold true story of the friendship between the music icons. When they first met, Patsy (Hilty) was already one of the biggest stars in country music while Loretta (Mueller) was just a coal miner's daughter, starting off with little to her name but a $17 guitar. Instead of seeing Loretta as competition, Patsy took Loretta under her wings to help her make it in Nashville.

Soon, they became close friends, touring together, bonding over their husband troubles and commiserating on being females in the male-dominated music business. Then in 1963, the country music community was struck with a tragedy when at just age 30, Patsy died in a plane crash. Despite the devastating loss of her friend, Loretta continued on in the industry and is today, known as the First Lady of Country Music. To this day, Loretta remains grateful to Patsy for her mentorship and above all, friendship, as the country music trailblazer that paved the way for Loretta.

Schmid will play Charlie Dick, Patsy''s second husband. Tippett will portray Doolittle "Mooney" Lynn, Loretta's husband and father of their four children.

The film is set to begin production later this month on location in NASHVILLE and will be released in late 2019.

Joe Tippett is best known for playing Earl in Waitress on Broadway. He had previously appeared on Broadway in Airline Highway. His regional and off-Broadway credits include the world premiere of Waitress at the A.R.T., All the Fine Boys at theNew Group, This Day Forward at the Vineyard, and Indian Summer and Familiar at Playwrights Horizons. Recently he's been seen on screen in "Bull," "Chicago Justice," "The Blacklist," License Plates, "Boardwalk Empire." and "Rise" on NBC.

Read the original article on Deadline.