Jake Owen Takes on Acting With First Movie Role in ‘Our Friend’

Jake Owen is taking his talents to the big screen, appearing in the upcoming film Our Friend. On Friday, fans were able to get a first look at Owen in the movie with a newly-released trailer, and the country singer also shared a clip of a dinner party scene from the film on his Instagram. Our Friend is based on the real-life story of a family whose lives are upended after a cancer diagnosis. Their best friend offers to help out, and Owen plays a friend of a friend.

“I’ve never been in a ‘movie’ before so I won’t lie.. sitting down in front of Dakota Johnson, Jason Segel, and Casey Affleck and acting like I knew what I was doing, was a bit of a challenge,” the Florida native wrote. “I’ve always loved a good challenge.”

Johnson stars as Nicole Teague, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Affleck plays her husband, journalist Matt Teague, and Segel stars as the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux.

“Our Friend tells the inspiring and extraordinary true story of the Teague family — journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his vibrant wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two young daughters — and how their lives are upended by Nicole’s heartbreaking diagnosis of terminal cancer,” the film’s description reads. “As Matt’s responsibilities as caretaker and parent become increasingly overwhelming, the couple’s best friend Dane Faucheux (Jason Segel) offers to come and help out. As Dane puts his life on hold to stay with his friends, the impact of this life-altering decision proves greater and more profound than anyone could have imagined.”

The movie was filmed in 2019 on location in Fairhope, Alabama, and Owen told PEOPLE at the time that he has “always been intrigued by challenging myself to do things that I’m not necessarily comfortable with.”

“No one hired me for this because they saw me act in a film before,” he explained. “I think they’re putting faith in me that I can do this, and that gives me some energy.” Owen added that being on stage and working in front of a camera on a movie set have their similarities, explaining that if he forgets a lyric or a line, “you roll with it, and just act.” Our Friend will be released in theaters and on streaming on Jan. 22.