Reacher star Alan Ritchson has said it’s important to support faith-based films in Hollywood and calling movie theaters a new ‘pulpit’.
Ritchson, 40, who also starred in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, discussed being a Christian in Hollywood.
The film is inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
The actor has working in the entertainment industry for the last 19 years and said he definitely wants to be ‘part of stories’ that honor Christ, Christian Headlines reported.
Ritchson made the comments recently during a Zoom ‘prayer call’ involving cast and crew from Ordinary Angels.
Pictured: Alan Ritchson (File photo). Ritchson, 40, who also starred in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, discussed being a Christian in Hollywood
Ritchson said some studio executives only concentrate on the bottom line but said that doesn’t make it any less important that faith-based films like Ordinary Angels and the surprise hit movie Jesus Revolution, which came out in February, get shown in theaters.
He said it ‘doesn’t change the fact that people are hearing the name of Christ in movie theaters’.
‘And if that’s where the pulpit is for people who wouldn’t normally step foot in a church, then that’s still a great way to have that conversation,’ he added.
‘It matters that these films get supported.’
The actor said when Christians get behind faith-based movies it sends an important message to Hollywood.
‘Other people in [Hollywood] watch this and a groundswell kind of takes place in Hollywood that changes things in a real meaningful way,’ Ritchson told the publication.
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Pictured: Alan Ritchson as Jack Reacher in a scene from the Amazon series
Ritchson recently said Ordinary Angels is a story about how God uses ‘broken’ people and those who don’t look like the ‘perfect Christian’ to do His work, the outlet noted.
‘God continually shows up in our world in a way that kind of boggles our mind,’ Ritchson said.
‘Because we, for whatever reason, I think we continue to buy into the idea that … God chooses heroes to do His work. And it’s just never been the case.’
‘It’s the broken and the dysfunctional that God proves His power and strength through,’ he added.
‘And this a story of that, too. It’s important that we remember that those who maybe struggle to follow the rules, who don’t look like the perfect Christians, who are the broken, are the people that God has a funny way of expressing Himself through. And that story is very much told in Ordinary Angels.’
Ordinary Angels, also starring Hilary Swank and directed by Jon Gunn, is set to be release in theaters October 13.
Pictured: Alan Ritchson (File photo). The actor has working in the entertainment industry for the last 19 years and said he definitely wants to be ‘part of stories’ that honor Christ
The film was made by the same company Kingdom Story that produced Jesus Revolution, which grossed more than $50 million.
The Kingdom Story Company was formed in 2018, specializing in faith-based films.
The company’s film I Can Only Imagine (2018) focused on the true story of one of the best selling Christian singles of all time – MercyMe’s song that has that title.
It tells the story of musician Bart Millard, played by Michael Finley, and his relationship with his abusive father. The film grossed $86 million worldwide, with a production budget of $7 million.
