'Schitt's Creek' Star Noah Reid's 'Outer Range' Character 'Experiences the World Through Singing'

Noah Reid tapped into his skills as a musician and Broadway star to truly understand the inner workings of his eccentric character on Outer Range.

During an interview with PEOPLE about his role as the youngest Tillerson brother in the new western thriller Outer Range, the Schitt's Creek alum revealed his favorite part about playing the role.

"Billy experiences the world through singing a little bit. That's how he channels his inner prophet. So I got to sing some amazing songs in strange situations, which I thought was pretty great," he tells PEOPLE in this weeks issue.

The actor, 34, continued, "One of my favorite playlists right now is my Billy Tillerson playlist."

The Prime Video series, which premiered on April 15, centers around Josh Brolin as Royal Abott, a cattle rancher determined to protect his land following the disappearance of his daughter-in-law. Then, the show takes a supernatural turn following the appearance of a woman (Imogen Poots) and a mysterious black hole on the property.

Reid's character Billy is the eccentric son of Wayne Tillerson, who utilizes the strangest of situations to break out into song. After playing the role of Patrick, Dan Levy's onscreen love interest on Schitt's Creek, the actor admits this show was unlike any other he's been in before.

"I've never done a Western [production]. Coming off of Schitt's Creek, this is pretty much a 180 turn from Patrick," he says of his character. "This is a totally different world and a totally different tone. There's something fun about the level of danger with Billy. He's a nice blend of soft and hard."

In some ways, Reid says his character reflected the tone of the show's location.

"I think he can be quite tender and he can be quite dangerous at the same time. I think in a way that's reflected in the nature of Wyoming. It's incredibly beautiful, but it's also incredibly dangerous. I feel like that's something that I tried to work into Billy as much as I could."

Reid also enjoyed the opportunity to star alongside Brolin — someone he considers a "unique talent."

"I think that his ability to condense things and hold things back from the audience — there's a sense of playfulness that's alive in his work that I've always enjoyed as an audience member and getting to see it up close and personal was really amazing," he says.

He continued, "He has so much fun when he is working and it's a gift to get to enjoy what you do and it's clear that he really does and I think that really shows up in his work. Even in scenes that are tense and confrontational, there's a joy about the way that he approaches it, which I really enjoy. He's playing with it. He's having a good time and he's kind of challenging everyone around him to have as good a time as he is."

Season one for Outer Range is out now.