Latest / The Lila Rose Show / E295: Lent and the Pain of Crucifixion w/Jonathan Roumie | Lila Rose Show
Transcript
- 0:00What are you doing for Lent this year, Jonathan Rumi?
- 0:02Few things, what can I tell? You, I'm curious how Lent has
- 0:05changed for you since falling more deeply in love with Jesus
- 0:08and getting even more deep into your faith.
- 0:10Having people read The Brothers Karamazov, which is so cool.
- 0:13That's one of my favorite books. There it is.
- 0:15It's such a gorgeous reprinting. Yeah, they did a beautiful job.
- 0:17I just saw solo Mio. I was like this is what ROM coms
- 0:21are supposed to be. Many people, it's like, how am I
- 0:23gonna watch a movie with Jesus without a beard?
- 0:25Like, well, you're not watching a movie with Jesus, You're
- 0:27watching a movie with Neil the therapist.
- 0:29He said you have PTSD from the scourging and portraying the
- 0:32crucifixion of our Lord. Anytime you.
- 0:37Lent is in full swing and today I'm chatting with my friend
- 0:40Jonathan Rumi. We discuss his plans for Lent as
- 0:43well as Hallows new Prey 40 Challenge which incorporates one
- 0:46of my favorite books ever, The Brothers Karamazov.
- 0:49Jonathan and I also talk about his new film out called Solo Mio
- 0:53set in Italy, in which my Italian Mama gives her stamp of
- 0:57approval. Jonathan also shares some of the
- 0:59behind the scenes of the filming of Season 6 of The Chosen,
- 1:03including the crucifixion of our Lord and some of the mental and
- 1:06physical tolls that it took on his body.
- 1:09Welcome back to the Lila Rose show.
- 1:10A huge thank you to everybody who's been subscribing to the
- 1:13show. Make sure that you hit that
- 1:14subscribe button and leave this video a like.
- 1:16Finally, a huge thank you to everybody who is over at our
- 1:19Patreon. This is where you get ad free
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- 1:25In fact, if you become an annual paid subscriber of our mission
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- 1:37Thank you so much to everybody who is supporting our mission
- 1:40over at Patreon. Jonathan Rumi, welcome back to
- 1:43the podcast. Thank you, Lila.
- 1:45It's great to see you again. You're very busy.
- 1:47We were just talking. You've got your ashes on.
- 1:49It's Ash Wednesday. What?
- 1:50What have you been up to today? I do.
- 1:53Oh, you know, not much, just a few and half a dozen TV shows
- 1:58and talking about Jesus and talking about Hal of his Pray 40
- 2:02challenge with Mark Wahlberg on the number of different networks
- 2:06and yeah, just trying to spread the gospel and the mission of
- 2:10Lent and these next 40 days. So it is the we're filming this
- 2:16on Ash Wednesday. It's coming out in a few days
- 2:18from now. People are going to be in the
- 2:19thick of their Lent. What are you, what are you doing
- 2:22for Lent this year? Jonathan Rumi.
- 2:26I'm doing a few things. What can I tell you?
- 2:29Let me see is. Some of it off the record.
- 2:32Some of it's personal, some of it's, you know, it's prayer is a
- 2:35very personal thing, right? Go into your room, shut your
- 2:39door and, you know, just doing the Father, right.
- 2:41So it's, it's I don't wanna be, I want to feel like I'm like,
- 2:44Hey, look at me, look at what I'm doing.
- 2:46But some of the stuff is a little less, you know, weighty.
- 2:49But I, I am trying, I am trying to get rid of sugar in my life
- 2:53just in general. So I thought, OK, let me, let me
- 2:57try to add that to the list. This, this lent in addition to
- 3:01things that other things that I might try to fast from or, or
- 3:04try to do because it's now I was just about I give up chocolate,
- 3:08even though I probably would do that as well.
- 3:10I think of it. I sometimes go right up to the
- 3:13to the fine, like, I don't know, it's today's Ash Wednesday.
- 3:16Should I do the chocolate thing? I'm doing this other thing.
- 3:18Should I say? I don't know, but I think I got
- 3:21that. That falls into the sugar
- 3:22category, of course. So yeah, there's no chocolate
- 3:26for me, except maybe on Feast. Days, yes.
- 3:28So you do take the Sundays off. Is that typically how you do it?
- 3:31That's how I do it. And sometimes people say it's
- 3:33not hardcore enough. Yeah, most of my life I did
- 3:36like, I didn't grow up knowing that that, that that was a
- 3:39reprieve. So we, when we practiced Lenten
- 3:42at we, we fasted the whole 40, what is it 546 days total for
- 3:47like some days included. And then I found out like maybe
- 3:50less than 10 years ago that they're like, no, it's, you
- 3:53know, a day of rest. I'm like, what?
- 3:54Nobody told me this. I never knew.
- 3:56I never knew that. So yeah, I think, I think it
- 4:01depends, it depends on how I'm feeling.
- 4:03I, I may try to go hardcore or I may just take a break because
- 4:08it's Sugar's a tough thing. Sugar and social media right now
- 4:12are the biggest, I think addictions that I have.
- 4:14And it's like, what do you do when you're, when it's part of
- 4:17your, your, your work? You know, it's like, I got to do
- 4:21this and I got to bend it. So I think I'm going to, I have
- 4:23to set up more specific boundaries for for just
- 4:29scrolling and then for like, you know, the timing in which I do
- 4:33all this stuff. Yeah.
- 4:36So, so last year I wrote the forward to a book for Sister
- 4:40Nancy Elsman about media fasting.
- 4:43And so I'm like, I think I need to read that book again and and
- 4:46follow her guidelines for media fasting because it's they were
- 4:50really great and super helpful. So.
- 4:52That is a tough one. Are you, so are you doing no
- 4:55social media or are you doing like only social media on?
- 4:57I mean, it's your job, right? It's part of your job to market
- 5:00solo Mio and hallow and everything else you're doing.
- 5:03So must be difficult to social media fast when that's your job.
- 5:06I know it is for me. I don't social media fast.
- 5:09But I also am saying I need to scroll less.
- 5:10I need to spend less time consuming.
- 5:13It's just tricky to do. Yeah, it is because it's, it's,
- 5:17I mean, it's literally a physiological addiction that's
- 5:20meant to, you know, engage your, your dopamine production.
- 5:23It's like it's, it's epidemic, especially for children.
- 5:27And so, but even as adults we're still susceptible.
- 5:30So I think, I think having a mindful attitude towards it and
- 5:34then and then tasking myself with like, OK, what do I really
- 5:40need to release on social media now?
- 5:42Like are there deadlines up with my partner commitments?
- 5:45What do I have to do? And whatever I don't have to do,
- 5:48I can fast from the rest of it. So when you before I when you
- 5:52last were on the show, you shared very beautifully about
- 5:55your conversion. So many people have been
- 5:57inspired by it. Obviously, what you've done with
- 5:59the chosen I I'm going to ask you about solo Mio 2 because
- 6:01it's another fun part of your personality and your work coming
- 6:05to, you know, into the shared with the public.
- 6:08But I'm curious how let has changed for you since falling
- 6:12more deeply in love with Jesus and getting even more deep into
- 6:15your faith? What what what what meaning does
- 6:18it has have for you? How has it changed you
- 6:20personally? How is it different for you now
- 6:22that you're so much more in fire with your for your faith than
- 6:25you've ever been? I think it just, it gives me a,
- 6:29a higher personal level of accountability, I think.
- 6:37I think with, with, I mean, one of the, I'm talking about social
- 6:40media, one of the benefits is that, you know, of, of like an
- 6:44app, like, let's say Hal, for instance, is that I can
- 6:46incorporate that into my, my practice now and, and like, and
- 6:51lent and, and do a challenge and, and, you know, have ways
- 6:55of, of using social media for my benefit and to discipline
- 6:59myself. And so being more disciplined
- 7:02has been a part of my journey and, and luckily I feel like I
- 7:07have more resources to be able to help me do that and to get
- 7:10through that. And, and so that that's, you
- 7:15know, it's not just and, and using Halo is almost like an
- 7:19accountability partner to one level makes me more, you know,
- 7:25accountable to to my one commitment to, to my deepening
- 7:28spirituality. So I think that discipline for
- 7:31me, it's always been a struggle in terms of making sure I do my
- 7:35prayer each day. I know obviously that's the
- 7:36beauty of the habit builder that hallow is.
- 7:38It's saying like it's queuing you and like, do this, you know,
- 7:41ritual every day of making sure you're connecting with God or
- 7:44having silence or doing a meditation or whatever it is
- 7:47When you have found yourself to be more disciplined and you
- 7:50actually show up to your prayer time because I'm going to guess
- 7:53maybe for you and all you can let us know the struggle is
- 7:56actually making it happen. I know that's my issue.
- 7:59How does it change your relationship with God?
- 8:01Like how does it change your how has it changed your life?
- 8:03How, how is Jonathan different when you're actually showing up
- 8:07to prayer instead of getting caught up in all the other
- 8:09distractions and busyness of life and your life being, you
- 8:12know, especially busy with your career and everything else?
- 8:15Well, I think if, especially if you're starting your days and
- 8:18ending your days with prayer, it sets the tone and you know,
- 8:23setting a different tone from what you've been accustomed to
- 8:27is, is life changing right there.
- 8:29You know, instead of just jumping up and scrolling through
- 8:32your phone, you know, and, and, or watching TV or watching that,
- 8:37that starting the news or something like that, or reading
- 8:40about the news. Like if I'm starting my day with
- 8:42God, it's sets a different tone and puts me in a place mentally
- 8:46where no matter what's happening, I'm much more
- 8:51equipped to handle the day's challenges and the day's
- 8:56triumphs. The day the day's joys as well
- 8:59becomes that much sweeter when done in in collaboration in
- 9:06fellowship with with the Lord at my side, which is why I feel
- 9:10when when I have when I start my days and when I hand my days the
- 9:14Lord, you know and prayer. So I think that just having that
- 9:18feeling and that serenity and that disposition, that heart
- 9:23posture for God will will just change how you do everything and
- 9:29how you frame everything that happens in a give a day.
- 9:32I think that feeling of God's closeness in that experience of
- 9:36walking with God, it's so sweet. I know in my life, there have
- 9:38been times I've really tangibly felt like the Lord is in this
- 9:42and you have this consolation of him being in it.
- 9:45But then there's times where you're up against, I mean, for
- 9:47me, I'm up against my own struggles, distractions,
- 9:50worries, concerns, whatever it is, tiredness, whatever it is.
- 9:54And so, but I know that I still need to like, give God the 1st
- 9:57time of the day, like you're saying like open the day with
- 9:59prayer instead of the phone or whatever it is.
- 10:01But then you don't feel the immediate sweetness as much.
- 10:04You don't necessarily feel that consolation.
- 10:06And I think that's a lot of people's experience.
- 10:07And especially Lent, you know, it's 40 days of sacrifice.
- 10:10You're supposed to, you know, give things up to remember our
- 10:13Lord and his passion. You're supposed to, you know, go
- 10:15to confession, make yourself more open to the Lord and also
- 10:19purified. And that process sometimes is
- 10:21uncomfortable. Do you relate to that at all?
- 10:23And how do you navigate that? Discomfort, I think, I think
- 10:31there can sometimes be this, this level of discomfort,
- 10:34especially or, or unease when, when you're just, when you allow
- 10:40yourself to be overburdened by whatever life's anxieties kind
- 10:47of weighing on you on any given day.
- 10:50When you have so much to do and you're like, you wake up with
- 10:52the, your, your mind just reeling, like you've got just
- 10:56thoughts or you go to bed with like a racing mind.
- 10:59You're like, how am I going to tackle all of these things that
- 11:02I have to do and all of these issues or concerns or you know,
- 11:07And so I think the trick is to spend enough time in prayer,
- 11:12whether you know, like if you're doing like literature, the hours
- 11:15and night prayers or, or, or even just the rosary.
- 11:18I think when you spend enough time in prayer, your mind is, is
- 11:25it's affected. It's your, your, your, your calm
- 11:29and your peace is affected by that.
- 11:31And I think I think it helps bear that, that discomfort.
- 11:37You know, at least that's how I try to approach it.
- 11:40If I, if I try to start the day and I'm not, I'm not kind of
- 11:43feeling it. I, you know, or I'm not feeling
- 11:46like, oh, I mean, it's not always.
- 11:48Here's the thing that I've really been latching onto, you
- 11:52know, even when the context of like the Mass, right, the, the
- 11:56presentation of, I don't mean the literal presentation, but
- 12:01like the, the, the, the experience of the Mass and the
- 12:03liturgy. It's less about how I feel than
- 12:09it is my worship and what I'm giving to the Lord when I'm at
- 12:15Mass. It's less important for me to
- 12:18be, you know, intellectually dazzled by a priest's homily or
- 12:23emotionally moved by the music than it is for me to just be on
- 12:29my knees in adoration and worship and giving gratitude to
- 12:35the Lord for all he's done in my life and all he continues to do
- 12:38in my life. And, and for the, the mercy that
- 12:41he has on me and which allows me to do what I do and, and not
- 12:47something else. And, and, and utilizing my gifts
- 12:50to, to serve him. And so I think, you know, having
- 12:55that same kind of disposition with your prayer time and
- 13:01praying until you can get to that position, that that place
- 13:05where you're like, OK, I'm just, I'm here to serve the Lord.
- 13:11I might not feel a certain way or a way that I'd hoped, or I
- 13:15might not even feel his presence like next to me.
- 13:18Right? And then you think about Saint
- 13:20Mother Teresa and having that spiritual desolation for 50 some
- 13:27odd years and you're like, how did that work?
- 13:30And I think it was just, well, she just served and, and, and
- 13:35she, she just, she just, she was active in how she pursued the
- 13:40Lord, you know, and like, it was about him and not her.
- 13:46And obviously it affected her because she wrote about it.
- 13:48And, you know, she was just like, yeah, it's fine.
- 13:50And, and, and you can be deeply grieved at times, but I think, I
- 13:54think to, to, to continue to actively pursue the Lord in your
- 14:01prayer time to the point where I think you, you, you feel like,
- 14:06OK, like I know, I know that there is the, the Lord is using
- 14:13this time with us, whether or not I feel it, but if that makes
- 14:18it, if that makes sense. I it makes a lot of sense.
- 14:20I love that reference to Mother Teresa because she is such an
- 14:24example of showing up and being faithful in prayer and love for
- 14:28others, even when the feelings don't come in that moment or
- 14:32even for a time. And she's still showing up and
- 14:35receiving God's love in a way that's maybe not a feeling way,
- 14:39but something even deeper. And it anchors her entire
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- 16:26Hallow I Know is doing for part of its Lent campaign, which is
- 16:30having people read The Brothers Karamazov, which is so cool.
- 16:34That's one of my favorite books. I love that Alex Jones.
- 16:37I think he's, I'm guessing I actually haven't talked to him
- 16:39about this, but this was his idea.
- 16:41Although you can take credit if it was yours, but whoever's idea
- 16:44it was really good. Idea was not my idea at all.
- 16:48Yeah, no, this is Alex, I think is like the brainchild for a lot
- 16:52of the the challenges and stuff and and but they they, they as
- 16:55as far as I know that the team discusses it and if he's moved
- 16:59by something, chances are we're going to we will be moved by and
- 17:03we will do it as a challenge. And I mean, it's as usual, he is
- 17:07his instincts and how the Lord leads him.
- 17:09It's just spot on. So if this was yeah, it was an
- 17:13intense was an intense challenge to go through.
- 17:15But there's it's there's it's so beautiful.
- 17:19It's sister Miriam and you know, even Mark and Chris doing the
- 17:25fastest portion of this challenge on Fridays and and
- 17:28Jeff cabins interviewing, you know, Gwen Stefani and and
- 17:33others. Yeah, there's, there's a lot.
- 17:36There's a lot going on and there's so much, there's is
- 17:40there's so much to draw from for these for these some everyday
- 17:44for this challenge. It's I think people are going to
- 17:48get so much out of it. Well, I love the brothers K use.
- 17:51I mean, actually, Hollow has the physical book that they're
- 17:54reprinting as part of the challenge.
- 17:56And back to the whole thing about experiencing, you have it
- 18:00somewhere. I have it somewhere too, having
- 18:02spiritual desolation. I mean that that's part of the
- 18:05story of the brothers, Kay. It's like, where is God in the
- 18:08midst of tremendous suffering? So tell me what you're doing.
- 18:12I think you're doing some reading from it, right?
- 18:15There it is. It's such a gorgeous reprinting
- 18:16too, with the Prodigal Son on there.
- 18:19Yeah, they did a beautiful job. Are you reading portions of
- 18:23Brothers K for the Challenger? How are how are they
- 18:25incorporating it? Yes, yeah, So, so, yeah,
- 18:31sections of the story. I read some Yeah, I, I read
- 18:35portions of the the novel throughout the challenge three
- 18:38days a week. You're doing the the challenge
- 18:40with me. And then Sister Miriam will do
- 18:42these beautiful moving reflections on those those
- 18:46portions. And, and then the parallels
- 18:48between this story and the parable of the prodigal son are
- 18:54arcs sort of contextualized within each other.
- 18:57And it's, I mean, it's, it's, it's like it's a perfect, it's
- 19:01the perfect combination going into this, these, these next
- 19:044045 days. And so, yeah, so for, for we
- 19:09beat and we go through the major themes and the major pop arcs
- 19:13and it's like there's murder and intrigue and and love triangles
- 19:19and all this crazy stuff. But that, you know, and in the
- 19:23end, it's it's about, it's about a return.
- 19:26It's about these sons kind of returning home spiritually,
- 19:30metaphorically, literally in some cases.
- 19:33And it's yeah, it's, it's absolutely beautiful.
- 19:37And I mean, Dostoevsky is just, I mean, he's one of the greatest
- 19:41that ever lived so. Had you already been a fan of
- 19:44The Brothers Karamazov before the challenge, or has this made
- 19:48you a fan now that you have to actually read it for everybody
- 19:50and carry us along the story? Yeah, I'd never, I'd never read
- 19:54that book before. So this was a this was a great
- 19:57sort of introduction with so much more context than I
- 20:00probably ever would have gotten had I just read it, you know, as
- 20:03a standalone novel. So.
- 20:05So if you haven't read it or even if you have read it
- 20:07already, I think you're going to it's going to be unlocked in a
- 20:13way for you that you probably have never heard before or even
- 20:17considered. Because if it's just so layered
- 20:20and so beautiful. So I think it's it's the perfect
- 20:23if it's, it's the perfect companion piece to to let this
- 20:28year. It is a book I think everybody
- 20:30should read. So if this is the this is the
- 20:32best way for some people, I think spiritual reading be
- 20:35really heavy and hard to get through, but this is one of the
- 20:38greatest novels of all time. So I love the idea of turning it
- 20:41into spiritual reading for Lent for people because I I feel like
- 20:43it will make it much more accessible for folks and also
- 20:47help them develop their understanding of the some of the
- 20:50greatest literature that's out there that also celebrates the
- 20:52faith. So yeah, big, big thumbs up for
- 20:55me. I love that Hallows doing that
- 20:58this year. And it's very fun that you're
- 20:59reading it and it's going to be it's going to be awesome.
- 21:02People might already be doing this by the time this episode
- 21:04comes out, but if you're not doing it yet, go get on Hallow
- 21:07and join the challenge because it's it's amazing.
- 21:10You're only, you'll only be a few days behind if you're only
- 21:13just hearing about it now. So yeah, it'll be, it'll be
- 21:16early, but you can catch up. So I just saw solo Mio and it
- 21:20was fun that that. I did see it and it was very
- 21:24fun. I was like, this is what ROM
- 21:25coms are supposed to be and it was so clean, but also not like,
- 21:30you know, buttoned up. It was like fun and obviously
- 21:32you did a great job. Kevin James was awesome.
- 21:35So I highly recommend people watch it.
- 21:36And this is something you can watch with the whole family.
- 21:38And it was how much more adorable can you get than Italy
- 21:42and Andrea Bocelli and you know, going around on Vespas and like,
- 21:46you know, the love story of Kevin James girl walking out on
- 21:49him. So it was, it was great.
- 21:51I will say we did get my, you know, I don't know who was my
- 21:55mother. I watched it with her.
- 21:56Who's Italian, by the way? She's 100% Italian, my mother.
- 21:59So she is, she knows what's up with Italy.
- 22:01But she said. She's like, hey, I'm going to
- 22:05see if this one is going to be good.
- 22:07Exactly. But she was like, OK, she loves
- 22:10you in the chosen. Of course, everyone loves you in
- 22:13the chosen. So she was like, she told me I'm
- 22:15a little nervous to watch Jonathan Rumi in solo Mio
- 22:19because he's Jesus, right? That's who he is to me.
- 22:22But then she watched solo Mio and she said he killed it.
- 22:24You, you did it. You're you're still Jesus to her
- 22:27in the chosen. But you very, you know,
- 22:29hilariously played, you know, the funny, fun therapist guy,
- 22:34the hilarious therapist guy in Salomeo.
- 22:36So you had great response. People are loving it.
- 22:39I mean, it's, it's crushing it in the box office.
- 22:42It was a $5,000,000 film. And I think you're up to 20
- 22:44million now in the box office. Praise the Lord.
- 22:48Yeah. It's, you know, I think when we
- 22:50were making we making it, we, we knew there was something really
- 22:53special about it. And it was made by this family
- 22:56of Catholic brothers, the Canaan brothers.
- 22:58They're these Catholic guys from Rhode Island.
- 23:00There's like, I think 9 or 10 of them in their family.
- 23:03Got a couple of sisters as well, and a brother-in-law.
- 23:05And two of them wrote the film with Kevin James.
- 23:08Two of them directed it. I think there are one of them.
- 23:11A couple of more producers. 1 is in music supervising.
- 23:15So they all get together. This was their first theatrical
- 23:18release with Kevin. And they're just they're just
- 23:21good guys and they want to make great movies.
- 23:23And this movie was just meant to be like a really just a timeless
- 23:28kind of a comfort film. And so you can like, I've seen
- 23:31it several Times Now with various audiences and it just it
- 23:35it hits every time. It just, yeah, you kind of get
- 23:37the feels and places where you're supposed to get the
- 23:39feels. And you're still kind of like,
- 23:41you know, you gasp at the places where there are these little pot
- 23:44twists. And, you know, I think everybody
- 23:46wanted to make something that just was, was just so different
- 23:50than what's out there today and, and something that was worth
- 23:53going to the movies for and not just straight to streaming
- 23:56because I mean, this could have done that.
- 23:58But Kevin and, and, and all of us really were so passionate
- 24:01about this story and, and having something that was so beautiful
- 24:05set in in Rome and Tuscany that just deserve to be seen in the
- 24:09theaters and experienced with a live audience.
- 24:12Like, like, you know, the reason people go to the movies doesn't
- 24:15have to be tent poles that there's nothing wrong with, you
- 24:18know, you know, franchise movies just as long as they're good.
- 24:21But you know, the far fewer companies and and film makers
- 24:25are, are taking chances, telling these much smaller stories and
- 24:29putting them in theaters because they're just afraid people won't
- 24:31go. And it's like, well, if you make
- 24:33good movies that the whole family could enjoy, it's movies
- 24:36rated PG, you know, like the last time a ROM com is in the
- 24:41theaters. Like this was maybe what Hitch
- 24:43like like something that felt like this.
- 24:45It's like 20 it. Made me think of.
- 24:47Hitch and I was also Kevin. James yes, No, of course I'm
- 24:50close. Kevin James Dub.
- 24:51But it made me think of Hitch in terms of the the sweetness of it
- 24:55and the originality of it. Yes, that's that's right.
- 24:58Because it was just very, it was.
- 24:59So it was this innocent charm that I mean, Kevin James is
- 25:02really good at that. You're good at that too, in the
- 25:04comedic setting. So I thought you pulled that off
- 25:08really beautifully. Kevin James did that and it's a
- 25:10sweet charm. But the other thing is the
- 25:12originality piece you, you really had.
- 25:15And again, watching with my Italian mother and I'm half
- 25:16Italian, like we were like looking for this, right?
- 25:19But you really landed the really authentic and like, you know,
- 25:25Italian ladies like bickering and you know, like chastising,
- 25:29like the main lead actor, the woman, the love interest for
- 25:33Kevin James, like very stereotypical Italian woman, but
- 25:36very authentically so. And just the way she
- 25:39communicated. And you don't get to see I, I
- 25:41just, I don't know, you don't see those depictions.
- 25:43I don't know why this is. But like in most modern ROM
- 25:46coms, again, not to just like hate on other projects, but you
- 25:50see a lot of sex scenes, which of course there were none.
- 25:52This was beautifully clean. You didn't need to have any of
- 25:54them there. You see all this random sex
- 25:56stuff and then you see this like fearfulness of almost like going
- 26:01to the earthiness of culture and ethnicities.
- 26:05And you guys did that in the Italian context really
- 26:08beautifully. And it just, it felt so real.
- 26:11It felt like I was watching something that was yes, it was
- 26:13modern, but it was again like a clean ROM com that could have
- 26:15been made back in the 90s kind of thing.
- 26:18So it kind of hit those notes for me and I, you don't see that
- 26:22anymore, unfortunately, in the ROM com space.
- 26:24Yeah, yeah. And I think, I think that's the
- 26:28biggest thing that we've been trying to communicate to people
- 26:30because, you know, everybody's tired of going and paying 20
- 26:34bucks to see a bad film. And so they stay home and they,
- 26:36you know, they want streaming, whatever.
- 26:38And so really trying to get the message out that this is a film
- 26:42that you you will enjoy in the theaters and you can.
- 26:45And for so many reasons, like so many people just felt really
- 26:48good at the end of it. And they're like, yeah, you
- 26:50know, it's like, oh, it's a it's an actual feel good movie.
- 26:53And, and, and our lead, Nicole Grimaldo, she was the the
- 26:57Italian love interest. She and she, she never done
- 27:00anything in English before. That was her first.
- 27:03She learned English for this movie and she was so nervous.
- 27:06But she is such, she is such a star.
- 27:09She has so much charisma. And, and, but she found this
- 27:13rhythm, if of kind of this broken Italian into English that
- 27:16just worked perfectly for the story.
- 27:19And it really, really just she pops off the screen.
- 27:22And so people people have been falling in love with with her as
- 27:26well. And just Kevin kind of taking
- 27:28more of a dramatic turn, even though it's a comedy.
- 27:30It's like he's he's super grounded and he's just earnest
- 27:34and sincere. And and that was some a real
- 27:37big, you know, and an intentional character point for
- 27:41him. Like he didn't want to do, you
- 27:43know, Paul Bart falling down a flight of, you know, the Spanish
- 27:47steps in in Rome. It was just.
- 27:48That would have been funny this. Guy just just broken hearted.
- 27:52I think that's another one we call Blapstick version is, is
- 27:55something yeah, but he's, I mean, he's done that most of his
- 27:59career and and he can do that fine.
- 28:02And there's elements of that in this like that you you, you
- 28:05know, his physicality. And so he could he just, he just
- 28:08does an arm shake or something and you're, and you're on the
- 28:11floor laughing. But, but this was something that
- 28:14was a bit different for him and, and people have really enjoyed
- 28:18just seeing that side of him. And then also, you know, seeing
- 28:21that the opposite for me, getting to, to be a little more
- 28:24slapstick, but you know, still hopefully grounded and and clean
- 28:27shaven, which is was a lot of concern for many people.
- 28:30It's like, how am I going to watch a movie with Jesus without
- 28:33a beard? Like what?
- 28:34You're not watching the movie with Jesus.
- 28:35You're watching the movie with Neil, the therapist.
- 28:38That's, that's what this guy is in this movie.
- 28:41And, and people, I think taking the, the, the chance on, on
- 28:45allowing themselves to see me as something other than Jesus, say
- 28:48it's important. Obviously, as an actor who wants
- 28:52to have a, you know, a long career that people buy me in
- 28:56other roles. They, they can, you know, if I'm
- 28:59doing my job well, I, I, I should hopefully be able to kind
- 29:02of transition to make people believe that I'm not just Jesus
- 29:06or that they can see other characters.
- 29:08And so, you know, with a film like this, it was the great
- 29:11opportunity for me, me to, to transition very gently with,
- 29:15with the audience to say, OK, let's start looking at me in
- 29:19like a different kind of a frame and, and different accent.
- 29:22And so I get to bring out a little more of my, my New York
- 29:26accent in this film. And, and I think it's been, it's
- 29:29been really well received. So praise God for.
- 29:31That I think it was a gentle transition to have you be a
- 29:34therapist because I mean, you were still really sweet and
- 29:39nice. They're absolutely perilous.
- 29:42And so you weren't like when you open your mouth, you didn't get
- 29:44the Sermon on the Mount, but then you got these like, let's
- 29:47all talk about this guys or, you know, whatever, like that's
- 29:50toxic. I mean, it was obviously your
- 29:52your quips are very funny in the film, but it was it was actually
- 29:55perfect because you're going to show up in a ROM com.
- 29:58I think people would have been like overwhelmed if you were
- 30:01like the main lead as a suave, kind of like romance character.
- 30:05You know, I don't know what the actor that would be like the
- 30:08stereolithic, the Brad Pitt, if you showed up like that, people
- 30:10like, but wait, he's Jesus. How could he do this to me?
- 30:12But you show up in this next film, you're transitioning to
- 30:15show people versatility, of course, that you can do and baby
- 30:18steps and you're the the funny therapist.
- 30:20So it worked. It totally worked that that was
- 30:23well done. And I you know, I think people
- 30:25will absolutely be excited for solo Mio too.
- 30:29I mean, it would be very fun to have Kevin James and that girl
- 30:32married and then they have kids in Italy and then you all get
- 30:35back together for the reunion. I'm sure you guys guys were
- 30:37talking about it, but you know, have little kids running around.
- 30:40We were Kevin was, yeah, Kevin was talking about a sequel while
- 30:45we were still shooting the first one.
- 30:47We're like, we just do let's let's see how see if we can even
- 30:50get this into the movies. Like most people don't don't
- 30:53realize the the like the Olympic level achievement that it takes
- 30:57to get a movie into theaters. Like it is no small feat.
- 31:01Like when we were making this, we didn't have a distributor.
- 31:04Angel Studios is distributing this, this film, it was
- 31:08independently made that they were like financiers that come
- 31:11in and be like a OK, we'll, we'll, we'll put some money
- 31:13down. We think this is going to be
- 31:14good. Kevin was well established.
- 31:16We got, you know, John got Kim Coates, he got Allison Hannigan.
- 31:19So they're there. There's a number of reasons why
- 31:23the movie will get made. But then once it's made, there's
- 31:25no guarantees that it'll get into theaters versus streaming.
- 31:28And then if it, when it does come out, if it'll actually be
- 31:31good or do good. And so you're, you're, you're
- 31:34trusting the teams that you're with when you when you say yes
- 31:37to the job, that like, I think this this has potential to, to
- 31:41really hit in a way. And for, you know, it's on
- 31:44different levels for everybody involved, myself included.
- 31:47So, yeah, I think, I think, you know, I won't give anything
- 31:54away, but you, you start seeing hints, you know, as you towards
- 31:58the end of the film that like, oh, I could see where if there
- 32:01was another one, I could kind of imagine some of the, the
- 32:04scenarios that could happen here.
- 32:06So who knows? You know what, who knows what
- 32:09the Lord is planned. So I'll, I'll, I'll go release
- 32:12him. Every purchase that we make
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- 33:48women's products over at everylife.com.
- 33:50Use code Lila at checkout. How did it happen with you guys
- 33:54creating the film to suddenly have a trip Jelly show up in a
- 33:58ROM com? It was awesome.
- 34:00But how did that, how did that happen?
- 34:02You did you literally call him? You're like, hey, Kevin.
- 34:05Was connected. He's in Italy, right?
- 34:06That's actually his home. So you're like, hey, we're
- 34:09filming outside your house, can we come in?
- 34:11Yeah, I, he's, that might have been his son's house.
- 34:15So we were I, I don't know, I think, I think Veronica, his
- 34:19wife was somehow connected to. I don't know if it was Kevin.
- 34:25Obviously, by the time I, I come into the picture for the film,
- 34:28all that stuff's already worked out.
- 34:30And, and so then we got to to film at the house for a day and
- 34:35it was, they were just wonderful hosts.
- 34:37And, and we got to see Andrea literally do tricks on a horse,
- 34:44which is just an amazing sight to behold.
- 34:46And, and he's a he's a master of horsemen.
- 34:49And yeah, it was, it was just, I mean, it was like, Oh my gosh,
- 34:54this is like, I need to pinch myself because it's just, that's
- 34:57not just seems it's, it's absolutely surreal.
- 35:00You just you're, you're in that situation.
- 35:03You're like, how did I get here? Like God is so good.
- 35:06Look, I had just, I could not have seen this coming.
- 35:09So. I think the other thing I'm
- 35:10really excited about, and I love that you're creating projects
- 35:14like this, Jonathan is, yes, of course, these incredible faith
- 35:17projects like The Chosen, which have made the gospels come to
- 35:20life for people. And then in those more like
- 35:23family friendly ROM com space, I do think it's been a space
- 35:27that's been dead in the water in some ways, I would say even for
- 35:30decades. I just feel like it gets worse
- 35:32and worse because the a lot of the ROM coms that are coming out
- 35:36are very sexually explicit. They're like pulling out these
- 35:40crazy, you know, themes where a lot of the relationships are
- 35:45very broken, but they're not like redeemed necessarily in the
- 35:48end. So you're not like seeing your
- 35:50ultimate happy ending or shooting like the deterioration,
- 35:53quite frankly, of romance. And it's just, it's kind of sad.
- 35:56And then they're very cookie cutter.
- 35:58And again, I'd. So you just don't really see
- 36:00good ROM coms anymore. Are you planning to do more of
- 36:03these in the future? Is this Elaine that you feel
- 36:06passionate about? I would, I would love to, I
- 36:09mean, you know, yeah, like to, to, you know, to continue your
- 36:14point, like a lot of a lot of those films out like coarse
- 36:16language and and so knowing Kevin, I met Kevin actually when
- 36:22actually was exactly this time three years ago.
- 36:24I met Kevin at the beginning of a, a, a couple of day, like a
- 36:30three day, four day Lenten retreat that we did in an Abbey.
- 36:34And, and so my, I had just, I had another film coming out
- 36:39around the same time called Jesus Revolution, where I was
- 36:41playing this, this hippie preacher.
- 36:44And, and so we, we met at this retreat and we just stayed in
- 36:48touch and, and I kind of got to know his sensibility and he
- 36:51works clean, you know, as a, as a comedian.
- 36:54And so when he's like AI think I got a movie for us and I'm like,
- 36:57whatever it is, man, I'm, I'm in, I just, I trust him.
- 37:00He knows my heart, he knows my work.
- 37:02He knows like my desire as a, as a sort of a media missionary and
- 37:09in, in the form of an actor that I, I want to tell stories that
- 37:13that do have redemption, though those stories are interesting
- 37:16for me. Those stories inspire me and
- 37:19they inspire other people as well.
- 37:20And I think those, you know, when there's a really like a
- 37:24positive story or a can, you can play a really broken person and
- 37:29you can play a person with addiction.
- 37:31You can play a person who has broken relationships, But then
- 37:35where does that story go? For instance, I'm developing
- 37:38that ATV series currently even for over the next year or two of
- 37:43playing a guy who is it's it's kind of set in modern or near
- 37:47future. So we're playing a, a retired
- 37:52like Delta Force Ranger and, and he's a guy that when we see him
- 37:58in the beginning of, of the story, he's a broken man.
- 38:01He sees he's come back from years of, of fighting and
- 38:06working as a soldier and, and the toll that that takes on him
- 38:09personally and, and his relationships with his wife and
- 38:12his kid. And, and there's, there's a lot
- 38:15of brokenness there. But that the, the arc of this
- 38:17story over a couple of seasons of this show, of the series is
- 38:22about how does he find his way back to redemption?
- 38:25How does he find his way back to the light when he starts in
- 38:27darkness? And so those are the kind of
- 38:30stories that really excite me and, and, you know, referencing
- 38:35like what you said earlier about people seeing me as Jesus, It's
- 38:39like that. That could be concerning for
- 38:42some people because they're not used to seeing me in that, in
- 38:45that vein and in that light. But I, I think the chosen was
- 38:49one phase of my ministry as a performer.
- 38:52And that has set me up and clarified in my own mind the
- 38:56kinds of work I want to be doing as a performer, because I see
- 39:00what it means to have impact as an artist.
- 39:03And when lives are changed, literally somebody's like, I
- 39:06don't, I've never walked into a church in my life.
- 39:09And then somebody sent me the show and it got me interested in
- 39:12the Bible. And now I want to become a
- 39:14Catholic or now I want to be Christian.
- 39:16I just got baptized. It's like that.
- 39:19I mean that's somebody's that their their spiritual future,
- 39:24their their their eternal, you know, life is is determined by
- 39:29their acceptance of Christ as their Lord and Savior.
- 39:32That can happen through culture and media.
- 39:36Why would I ever want to waste time that with anything that
- 39:39that doesn't somehow help inform that?
- 39:42And there's nothing wrong with entertainment.
- 39:44Like, look, I mean, I love Star Wars, you know, I grew up with
- 39:47Star Wars. Like is there some parallels
- 39:51between, you know, playing Jesus and playing a Jedi?
- 39:53I mean, there, there are similar power, similar parallels.
- 39:56Could I apply my own sense of spirituality in a story in that
- 40:00way? I would find a way to do that,
- 40:02just like even in Sola Mia, it's not a faith-based story, but I I
- 40:06found a way to to impose and and include my own personal faith.
- 40:14My character, if not, you know, poetically or through or through
- 40:21dialogue, like even pictorially, visually, like he wears A
- 40:25crucifix. That was a choice.
- 40:26Like Kevin's like do whatever you want.
- 40:28Like you make this guy yours. I'm like, OK, well, we never see
- 40:32characters wearing crucifixes in the movies unless they're a
- 40:36priest or pastor or, you know, somebody like that.
- 40:40So but but people wear crucifixes all the time.
- 40:43Like, you know, it's just part of who they are.
- 40:45It's part of their identity. Well, this is going to be my
- 40:47identity. And we don't say a word about
- 40:49it. It's just there is you're like,
- 40:51oh, well, that's interesting, you know, and it's just subtle.
- 40:54It's not you pointed out. But I think that's there's
- 40:57always a way for me to, no matter what the story is in the
- 40:59character, to bring part of that, to bring that message, to
- 41:03bring that representation to the screen, I think.
- 41:05I love that. Yeah.
- 41:07And the fact that Solemn you opens with that scene or one of
- 41:10the opening scenes is this wedding in a Catholic Church
- 41:13with a Catholic priest. And then there's conversations
- 41:16later in the film about couples that divorce.
- 41:18Norbertine. Norbertine.
- 41:19Oh, yeah. That's.
- 41:20Was he a Norbertine? I didn't even catch that.
- 41:22That's so. That's so awesome.
- 41:24Was it an actual Norbertine priest that you got?
- 41:27Yeah, you got a real guy. It's a friendly Kevin's.
- 41:30Love that, love it. And you have.
- 41:32And there's a theme later about. From Saint Michael.
- 41:34'S Oh my gosh, that's Wait, you flew him out to Italy?
- 41:37Yeah. Kevin did.
- 41:40I'm sure Kevin did, yeah. That is so fun.
- 41:44I wonder if I know him. I probably.
- 41:46That is so funny. You probably.
- 41:47You take a look. I'm gonna take a closer look.
- 41:49OK, That is you're. Gonna have to go see it again.
- 41:52Obviously, obviously, which I will happily do, but there is a
- 41:55theme later where there's discussions of that couple that
- 41:58gets divorced and gets remarried.
- 42:01It was a very pro marriage film. You know, you're right.
- 42:03It wasn't overtly religious. It wasn't anybody banging
- 42:06anyone's head with the Bible, but you have this beautiful
- 42:10celebration of ultimately marriage and you have that you
- 42:13it ends with a wedding. A lot of ROM coms, they don't
- 42:16end with a wedding anymore. They end with these sort of
- 42:19suggestive scenes. You're not sure where things are
- 42:20going to go in the end. And I, I love it.
- 42:23I mean, you, it landed all those, it landed all those
- 42:25planes. The other thing is I don't think
- 42:27there was a sink. Was there not any kiss?
- 42:29Like there were Italian kisses, like let's kiss the cheeks.
- 42:32There was no. There was no.
- 42:33I don't even know if there was a lip kiss in the movie.
- 42:36I don't know if you tracked that, but I didn't see one.
- 42:39I think I had. You had I.
- 42:40Had I think I had the one of them one at least there was at
- 42:44least one and there might have been one with.
- 42:50I didn't see Kevin kiss. That girl said there wasn't one.
- 42:54Well, you're not married, so. It's OK, Jonathan.
- 42:55I was trying to think of his his fiance.
- 42:58It might have been his fiance in one of the the video, the home
- 43:02movie flashbacks. But I can't.
- 43:04You may be right. The flashbacks.
- 43:06Yeah. But but I, you know, I, I, I
- 43:10there's 1 Peck. You had a Peck.
- 43:12With my wife SO. You had to do that to break the
- 43:15ice. So it was, so it's so innocent.
- 43:18It's a wrong COM. There's got to be some wrong.
- 43:20There was a little bit of wrong. No, it was very wrong.
- 43:22It was very wrong. It's just very clean.
- 43:24I only, I was paying. I was just, I pay attention to
- 43:26those things just editorially. I was curious where you guys
- 43:29would go with that. And so I was like, wow, they
- 43:30established. This I thought you about to say
- 43:32I'm paying to see that. Wrong.
- 43:33I'm not. Kissing.
- 43:34I got no kissing. I want my money back.
- 43:38No, I'm like, I'm one of the biggest critics of sex scenes in
- 43:41movies. Not that kissing is that because
- 43:42it's not, but so, but I'm always curious how in a cleaner film
- 43:46they play it anyways. He did.
- 43:48Kevin was they were. There was definitely chemistry
- 43:50without make out sessions and you had a Peck on the you had
- 43:54you had a Peck. You did a Peck on the lips, but
- 43:56there was no make out session with you and your wife either.
- 44:00Your your screen, Yeah. And then, and I think it was, it
- 44:04was appropriate for our characters as well.
- 44:05So it, it, it all made sense. Yeah, it worked.
- 44:08Well, and in Italy again, they do show a lot of physical
- 44:11expressions of love and cheek. Lot of lot of cheek kissing in
- 44:15Italy. Which is great.
- 44:17So the chosen that you're going to be filming soon.
- 44:20Tell us about that before you go.
- 44:22This is going to be some you've already filmed some of the most
- 44:25intense scenes. What are you going to be working
- 44:28on next? What should people be looking
- 44:30for? Well, I, I don't know, I can't
- 44:35tell you too much about season 7 because I don't know anything.
- 44:38I haven't gotten scripts yet. So it's it's coming up.
- 44:41I know it covers the resurrection.
- 44:43I know it covers the ascension. I think all of this has been
- 44:46discussed. It probably it may go into Book
- 44:49of Acts and that and that's as much as I know.
- 44:52OK. Yeah, so, so yeah.
- 44:56I, I, I, I, I don't even know how much I'll be in it.
- 45:01I think I'll be in it for most of it.
- 45:04But I think once, once he's up, up and away, it's.
- 45:07Like, you know. Then then they're on their own.
- 45:10Then they're on their own, except.
- 45:11Holy Spirit, you know, and Eucharist.
- 45:13Descent of the Holy Spirit and Eucharist.
- 45:16Yeah, so then you'll be off filming the Rangers.
- 45:18Theory. Yeah, Yeah.
- 45:22I think, yeah, that's going to be that's going to minister to
- 45:25people in a whole other. Way are you are you playing the
- 45:27Ranger? That's.
- 45:28Really good tackle I am, yeah. So I'm eating a lot now and
- 45:32training pretty heavy to, to just put on size over this next
- 45:36year, year and a half. So yeah.
- 45:39And I, I'm up about £20 from where I was last year filming
- 45:44the crucifixion. But I got down to a pretty lean,
- 45:48like one 53155 and I'm 6 feet tall.
- 45:51So it gives you an idea to like, and I was pretty, pretty lean.
- 45:55And it's for what we did with Season 6, It's, it's going to be
- 46:00pretty shocking for a lot of people.
- 46:02And just just to experience, you know, after five seasons of
- 46:06seeing Jesus, as, you know, bloody Jesus is your friend.
- 46:10And, and like, you know, your healer, your teacher, your
- 46:12rabbi, your, you know, minister once, once he's in custody and
- 46:19it starts to the talent changes. And it's going to be, it's going
- 46:25to be pretty tough for a lot of people, for all of us who filmed
- 46:28that. It was the hardest thing that
- 46:29we've ever done, especially for myself.
- 46:32And that it's still, it still affects me now.
- 46:35And, you know, I'm doing my own sort of sort of, you know, PTSD
- 46:41from from the experience of, of re enacting, discouraging the
- 46:45crucifixion. And but it was, you know, it was
- 46:49all, all in service to the Lord and, and that they may use it
- 46:54for, for his benefit and his glory and not any of ours.
- 46:59So I think, yeah, I think it's going to do a lot of good for
- 47:04many people just to kind of it'll hit home in a different
- 47:08way than than anything else that's been, you know, portrayed
- 47:12of of Christ's story because of the amount of time we've had to,
- 47:16to explore. You know, we spent so much time,
- 47:1940 hours so far by the end of season 5, it's 40 hours of
- 47:23storytelling of Jesus's ministry.
- 47:25And then the final 16 hours was, you know, of his crucifixion and
- 47:33then his resurrection. So it's, it's, yeah.
- 47:38I'm really curious to see how it's going to how it's going to
- 47:40be received. Was it physically painful,
- 47:43Jonathan, to film? You said you have PTSD from the
- 47:46scourging and portraying the crucifixion of our Lord.
- 47:49Why? Why is that?
- 47:50And and was it painful to physically do?
- 47:55Anytime you put yourself in a set of circumstances where
- 48:03mentally you know, psychologically and emotionally
- 48:07you are trying to convince yourself that something is true.
- 48:11Your brain, your brain doesn't know the difference.
- 48:14If if you're telling your brain like something is hurts and
- 48:19you're summoning this emotional life, which is essentially is,
- 48:26is that of suffering, your brain just interprets it all as as
- 48:34like this is this is wrong. Like we have to like it's fight
- 48:39or flight and, and your body starts reacting accordingly.
- 48:43And then, you know, there were, there were elements where it, it
- 48:47was physically painful at times, but I, I, I'm, you know, I
- 48:54didn't get struck by lightning and I didn't have to have heart
- 48:57surgery or anything like I think Jim Caviezel did.
- 48:59But I dealt with stuffing my own sort of things, you know, and,
- 49:05and like, for instance, on the first day of filming, one of the
- 49:10first couple of days of filming for me, I, I was, I had to run
- 49:18in the scene and we were shooting in these sand dunes and
- 49:24my sandal kind of caught the lip of this dune.
- 49:28And I kind of went straight down headlong.
- 49:30And I was running pretty hard. And I tried to roll into it to
- 49:34try to break the fall a little bit.
- 49:37And I kind of leapt up and I was like, you know, And it was like,
- 49:40yeah, you know, like, well, it's funny, you know, I thought, I, I
- 49:43thought I avoided injury, but I felt this immediate tightness,
- 49:47this band of pain across my shoulder into my chest.
- 49:51And I thought, oh, something is definitely wrong.
- 49:55And I ended up getting it checked out and MRI is an
- 49:59ordeal. And then I had slightly
- 50:02dislocated my AC joint there where it connects and, and so
- 50:11they're like, this is going to be painful for a few months.
- 50:16I said a few months. I said, yeah.
- 50:18I said, oh, and it it just so happens that would be the side I
- 50:22carried the cross on the where the shoulder would carry the
- 50:25beam on. And, and before I started this,
- 50:29that season last year, I had asked the Lord that if there was
- 50:32any, there was any way that I could, you know, maybe
- 50:38experience a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of your
- 50:43suffering. You know, I would do that as an
- 50:47offering. And in day one he said, OK,
- 50:52there you go. And I was like, oh, oh, I did
- 50:55say that. I kind of, I kind of asked for
- 50:57it. And there, there are other
- 50:58things like even with like the scourgings, you know, even
- 51:02though they, they were using props made of like foam and this
- 51:06other stuff, like when these guys, we had some pretty robust
- 51:11soldiers, there are certain shots where they had to see it
- 51:14make contact. Otherwise it just looks fake.
- 51:17And so it's like, yeah, let's just do do whatever we need to
- 51:19do to make him look real. And, and even with a prop like
- 51:25you're, you know, for 10 hours, it's it, it, it, you feel it,
- 51:29you, you end up with marks at the end of the day.
- 51:33But then all of that became an opportunity to just offer it up
- 51:37as, as, as a sacrifice and, and for souls and purgatory and, and
- 51:42for, you know, my own sort of remission.
- 51:46And, and, and, you know, I, with the way I realized I was dealing
- 51:51with it after the fact is like months later, you know, I'd be
- 51:56in mass and I, I would, I would get a glimpse of the crucifix.
- 52:02And when it came to like the elevation going into the, you
- 52:07know, the comedian prayers and stuff, I would just start
- 52:10weeping. And I was like, what is going
- 52:12on? And I, I realized like, oh, oh,
- 52:16this is still relating to what I just went through over the last
- 52:22few months. And that, that my reactions to
- 52:26that I, I, I recognizing are tied to other trauma that I
- 52:31dealt with, like when I was a kid and stuff.
- 52:33And so, but the Lord is using it, you know, the Lord knew
- 52:38exactly what I was going to need for this series and for this
- 52:42point and in my life, in this stage of my career and playing
- 52:46this character effectively and in a way that maybe people
- 52:50haven't experienced it before. And, and so everything that's
- 52:54happened in my life is kind of led me to be prepared for for
- 52:58this and in some way and, and shape.
- 53:00And, and I believe that. And, and I think he has used it
- 53:04as a result, you know, because it's based on the handful of
- 53:07messages that I go through from time to time.
- 53:10It's profound. It's profound how he's using the
- 53:15show and Halo and, and that these things that I'm involved
- 53:19with to, to bring people back to him.
- 53:23Yeah, it's absolutely profound. I mean, atheist conversions,
- 53:27Church of Satan conversions, people haven't gone to
- 53:31confession in 15 years, 30 years.
- 53:34Like, I mean, I take screenshots of these just to like compile
- 53:39like all of these moments of that that the Lord has has
- 53:43entered into these people's lives and just to give thanks.
- 53:46It's like how this is my, I couldn't have imagined this
- 53:50would be what I would be doing as an actor.
- 53:53Like it's just there's no, there's no context or
- 53:56expectation. And this was ever going to be
- 53:59something that I would be a part of.
- 54:00So I just I'm just. It's beautiful fruitfulness and
- 54:06it goes back to that, that story you shared, I know you shared
- 54:10before and you shared on the show when you first came on
- 54:13about just that total act of surrender to God, of just giving
- 54:17him everything, your career, yourself, your dreams, your
- 54:20struggles, everything, that complete surrender.
- 54:23And it's just beautiful to watch what God is doing literally
- 54:27through you on screen, of course, and then also to see the
- 54:29impact of that Yes to that radical, yes to God.
- 54:34Yeah, yeah. It's it's, it's humbling to say
- 54:38the least. So thank you so much, Jonathan.
- 54:41We're I hope everyone joins the rest of the Lenten challenge
- 54:45over at Hollow. When you need a day off, go see
- 54:48Solo Mio on Sundays when you're taking your break from Lent.
- 54:53Yeah, thank you so much for forgetting to to talk about some
- 54:56new stuff and share with with your audience all.
- 54:58I really appreciate it and appreciate.
- 54:59You super fun. We can't wait to have you back
- 55:01on and thanks so much, Jonathan. Good luck with all the travels
- 55:03and everything else. Thanks.
- 55:05All right, take care. Thank you, God bless you.
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