‘Doctor Odyssey’ Guest Star Kelsea Ballerini Had Nerves Before Acting Debut: ‘What if I Suck?’

Kelsea Ballerini is guest-starring role in an upcoming episode of ABC 's Doctor Odyssey , and her maiden voyage in the acting world gave her some trepidation.

"[Acting] was one of the things that I was like, Run toward the things that scare you!" the country singer says in a new Women's Health interview. "What if I suck on TV? Then you know what I do? I'll go put on my glitter and go back onstage. That's always going to be home base."

Ballerini told People at Doctor Odyssey's Los Angeles premiere on September 18 that she was "timid" during her "first time ever trying the acting hat on" but wasn't shy about discussing her jitters.

"So I asked a lot of questions, and I feel like I learned so much, and I really hope that I did the character and the show proud," she said.

Ballerini also shared that her actor boyfriend, Outer Banks star Chase Stokes , helped her prepare.

"I've always called acting his world, and so whenever I was asking him questions about this opportunity, I was like, 'What about this in your world?'" she said. "And he was like, 'Hey, it's just a world. I'm a part of it, and now you're a part of it. It's not my world.' ... By the end of the conversation, I was like, 'OK, so you'll run the scene with me?' And he was like, 'Yeah, let's do it.'"

Ballerini's day job is, of course, country music. She has had five albums hit the Top 10 of Billboard's Top Country Albums chart and seven tracks reach the Top 10 of the Hot County Songs chart, including the No. 1 song "Peter Pan." Two of her albums hit Gold status with the Recording Industry Association of America, and her album The First Time went Platinum. Ballerini is also the recipient of two Academy of Country Music Awards, two Country Music Association Awards, and four Grammy Award nominations.

Doctor Odyssey, co-created and executive-produced by Ryan Murphy , stars Joshua Jackson as Dr. Max Bankman, the new-onboard medic aboard a luxury cruise ship. Phillipa Soo and Sean Teale play Max's colleagues, and Don Johnson plays the ship's captain.

Other high-profile guest stars in Season 1 include Shania Twain , John Stamos , Gina Gershon , Chord Overstreet, Laura Harrier, and Cheyenne Jackson.

Doctor Odyssey, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC