If you caught yourself saying, “I should do that!” after reading about my little adventure, I thought I’d give you a behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a Christian Actor.
I am sure many of you are picturing me putting on a tuxedo and kissing babies all day. The majority of actors will tell you that the day to day life looks more like this:
You wake up and immediately check your email while eating breakfast. You check your email again before leaving for your appointment…hoping that there is an audition waiting for you. You arrive at the casting office and see several other actors waiting with their resumes in hand. You wish them luck on their auditions and then wait for your turn to go into the room. The Casting Director welcomes you in with a big smile and says, “Thank you so much for coming in! We are looking for someone who is funny, quirky, and can hold a tune.” That is when it hits you…this is going to be a musical comedy! You begin to panic because last time you sang in public was during the Christmas pageant in front of the entire church congregation…and Grandma said there were some pitch problems (but we all know she’s tone deaf).
The Casting Director
How do you blend your faith with your art? How do you walk through the doors God opens for you? Welcome to this website!
I began this blog as a way to explore how Christians in Hollywood live, work and believe. My first interview was with actor Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects, Bio-Dome). I had heard he had become a Christian–and that he was living a life of faith in Los Angeles.
I asked him about his experiences as an actor who is also a believer. He gave me some very interesting insights into how he has maintained his integrity, and how he has managed to stay true to his beliefs.
Since then, I’ve interviewed more than 50 actors and other industry professionals–from big-name stars like Patricia Heaton and Faith Ford, to familiar faces like Melinda Dillon and Dean Cain, to busy character actors like John Wesley Shipp and Joe Spano.
I have talked to people who work on the front lines of the industry–directors, producers, casting directors and agents–as well as people who work behind the scenes.
Welcome to my website, if you are a Christian in Hollywood, you should be able to relate to this. If not, then this will be a very different experience for you.
But I want to tell you something: being a Christian in Hollywood is not easy. It’s not like those churches on the hill that put on the show every Sunday, where everyone knows what they’re doing and the people who go there don’t have an ounce of talent. I want to tell you the real story. The story behind the scenes of making a movie, or starting a new television show. The story that I lived when I was working on “The Passion.”
When we started out filming “The Passion,” we didn’t know what we were getting into. We thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn’t. It was hard. There were so many times when I felt like quitting because I just didn’t have the strength or energy to keep going, but I didn’t quit. We all knew what we were getting into and we made a commitment to stick it out no matter what happened.
I’m sure at some point during your life you have questioned God’s plan for you or wondered why He would allow certain things to happen in your life that seem so
I have worked in the film and television industry for over 25 years, and most of my time was spent as a professional actor. I have performed in hundreds of commercials, voice overs, industrials, short films and feature films; though I am best known for my work on television.
I was born and raised in the city of Los Angeles. My parents are both Christian; my father is a retired pastor, and my mother is a retired educator. My parents were very supportive of my interest in performing; they taught me to sing before I could walk or talk. My first starring role was at age 3 when I performed “Jesus Loves Me” in Sunday school. It was the first time I remember feeling special.
I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and attended Evangelical Christian schools from Kindergarten through high school graduation. Most of my friends were devout Christians who shared my faith and commitment to God’s word; however, since I had many non-Christian friends as well, religion was rarely a topic of discussion among any of us.
There is a gulf between the world of Christian movies and the world of Hollywood. But in recent years, some Christians have used their talents to reach out to others.
The following are some of their stories.
“I came to California with a dream.”
That’s what one young woman said when I asked her how she ended up in Los Angeles. She had moved there with her husband, who was an actor, and she wanted to be a writer. She was hoping to make it big in Hollywood, but instead ended up getting married and having children. Now she is a stay-at-home mom and trying to support her family with her writing.
She wrote screenplays for various Christian movies and started writing for the Christian film industry. She has written for several Christian movies including The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe . She also wrote for A Walk To Remember , which starred Mandy Moore as Jamie Sullivan, a young woman who falls in love with Landon Carter (Shane West). It was based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name.
She has written for television as well, including episodes of Criminal Minds , Grey’s Anatomy , Supernatural , The Office ,
Most actors, even famous ones, have to live in L.A. for a while before they can get a part. They wait tables, drive cabs, or work as administrative assistants in order to pay rent and go on auditions.
I did all that, but then I got lucky. About a year after I moved out here I was cast in a movie with Robert Duvall and Michael Douglas called The Wonder Boys. It came out in 2000 and was my first Hollywood role.
Since then I’ve had a few other roles that were big enough for people to notice, like the TV series 24 and the movie Wedding Crashers. But my most recent film, Trucker, is probably the highest profile one I’ve done so far. It’s about a long-haul truck driver named Diane Ford who has to take care of her estranged 11-year-old son when her ex-husband’s drug habit lands her in jail for a night. The film opened two weeks ago and has gotten some good reviews.
Forty years ago this month, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of abortionists, legalizing their killing machine. It was a devastating blow to humanity and to America’s Judeo-Christian heritage; a devastating blow to unborn children and to the families that love them; a devastating blow to the medical profession and to our national conscience.
One might say it was a decision that has rocked our nation ever since.
In 1973 there were a few voices speaking up for the unborn child. One of these voices belonged to the natural law philosopher Dr. Francis Schaeffer, who with his wife Edith had begun working with those who were struggling with unwanted pregnancies in Switzerland. In 1971 they founded L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, which then was opened in England, and then in 1982 in the United States.
I first heard of Dr. Schaeffer while studying at Wheaton College (then Wheaton College and Conservatory), where I was majoring in theater arts. My favorite professor, Dr. David Lipscomb, frequently quoted him and recommended his books: The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason, He is There and He is not Silent, Death In The City and The God Who Is There and many others over the years.
Dr. Schae
