← The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast
The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast
The Movie Wonder Could Only Come From A Hard Story: Kingdom Story Series Episode 3
00:41:30
Andy Erwin and Candace review the movie Wonder
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- [00:00]
A
What does that phrase, be kind mean to you? And where does that kindness come from? Where did that become such an important value to you?
- [00:06]
B
It became really important to me when I was co hosting the View. Oh, wow. Yeah. I learned firsthand, how do I model kindness, particularly with people who don't agree with me. Life is like a roller coaster, but it's better when we go through it together. Welcome to the Candace Cameron Bure podcast. In this six part series, we're learning all about stories behind your favorite movies. My guest co host is Andy Irwin, host of the Storytellers podcast from Kingdom Story Company. Come join us. Hey, this, this series is so much fun. I just keep looking forward to every conversation, every week, every chat. We're coming into another really great movie.
- [01:01]
A
It's so fun. Like, I don't want this to end. It's like, next movie, next movie. And I'm trying to follow your model that I just like, look at what's next. And then so we get done with the episode and when we get ready to do another episode, I come back and I'm like, oh, we get to talk about this story now.
- [01:16]
B
Yeah.
- [01:17]
A
So this one today is one that I'm really excited about. So this one is the movie Wonder.
- [01:22]
B
Yeah, Wonder. And I feel like maybe we both had this on our, on our list and it, you know, this movie talks a lot about kindness and empathy and love. And, you know, I have a sign right here on my podcast wall. It says be kind.
- [01:37]
A
I love that.
- [01:38]
B
And I wrote a book a few years ago called Kind is the New Classy. And just think it's so important because kindness has a ripple effect on all of us. And it doesn't take much to be kind to someone, but its effects are so lasting.
- [01:52]
A
Yeah. And then when I, when I saw this film, so Wonder, it's a Lionsgate movie where we do our movies. And so it came out just before we did. I can only imagine. And we were already in business with Lionsgate and we were kind of getting ready to do that film, so they sent me an early screener of the film to watch it, to see would Christians support this? And I watched it with my wife. And this little boy story, for people that don't know the story, it's about this little boy, Auggie, that has a medical condition that causes a lot of deformity to his facial features and causes some health problems. And he's been homeschooled his whole life, gets sent to middle school for the first day by his mom, played by Julia Roberts, and this little boy has to face a lot of ridicule and bullying at first, and then these certain kids begin to stick up for him and find the power of kindness. And this little boy, Augie, begins to infect the whole school with kindness. And when I watched it, it just so moved me. It was just so powerful about the power of kindness and just what a word of encouragement or standing up for somebody can do. So for you. Like, like you said, like, I feel like just to brag on you, you have a reputation for being a kind person. Even when people have had moments of disagreement with you, you always just respond in such a gentleness, and you hold your ground for what you believe, but you do it with gentleness and with integrity. What does that phrase, be kind mean to you? And where does that kindness come from? Where did that become such an important value to you?
- [03:24]
B
It became really important to me when I was co hosting the View.
- [03:27]
A
Oh.
- [03:28]
B
Because.
- [03:28]
A
Wow.
- [03:31]
B
Yeah. I learned firsthand, how do I model kindness, particularly with people who don't agree with me. And just what you said. I've tried to say, how can I communicate effectively with what I believe and kind of stick to my guns, but be respectful and ultimately be kind. It doesn't mean that I have to be agreeable to be kind, and I don't have to think the same way to be kind, but there's ways in which I can still talk and get my point across and, you know, it's just what kind of open, civil conversation and dialogue is. But that really implemented the book when I wrote Kind is the New Classy because of working on the View, because there were many days where it, it felt hostile on air. I wouldn't say it was hostile behind the scenes. I really enjoyed.
- [04:24]
A
Got charged in the moment, but in.
- [04:25]
B
The moment, it got charged. So when you also have the spotlight on you and literally millions of people.
- [04:31]
A
Think on your toes, too.
- [04:33]
B
Yeah. It's kind of like how, how do I best represent a, a Christian in this? How do I represent God in this? But how do I want the Christian to be perceived because. Or perceived because that's who I am. And whoever may be watching this moment in time right now, I'm going to be the model of, like, oh, well, that's how Christians act.
- [04:57]
A
Wow.
- [04:57]
B
And so there's a lot of pressure in that way. And it's like, how do I. Yeah, how do I, how do I do this and do it well? And you know, on that show, I did my best. I, I, it wasn't great. I didn't Always get it right. I can look back at things and say, I wish I communicated here better or I could have been kinder here. I could have spoken up there. But that, that is. Was the impetus for making kindness a part of my life and legacy.
- [05:26]
A
I've always admired that. About that season of your life, because it's one thing to have a moment to kind of step back, gather your thoughts and figure out how do I respond.
- [05:36]
B
Mm.
- [05:37]
A
It's another thing to do it in real time with people. It's a whole other thing to do it in real time on live TV and be like, whatever I say, it's forever.
- [05:46]
B
Totally.
- [05:47]
A
Like, was. Was that. Was there like a, you know, a moment of shock and awe at first of like, oh, my, oh, my, oh my gosh, how do I do this? This? And then like, how did you kind of begin to formulate like, this is what kindness looks like?
- [06:04]
B
Yes. The shock kind of never left. It was always like, oh, I would.
- [06:08]
A
Watch you sometimes just kind of catch your breath, like, okay.
- [06:11]
B
And yeah, I know. I'm also not a very argumentative person.
- [06:16]
A
Right.
- [06:17]
B
So that was always more difficult me that I, for me, because I had to jump in. I had to speak up. That's what the show's all about. And I don't like the back and forth of arguing, so had to learn the art of that. But what I had that was so helpful was again, good people behind me and a team. So I had basically one person on speed dial and then I had a couple of other people in my pocket that I knew I could call or text immediately before the show kind of saying, hey, these are the topics that we're most likely going to talk about. Can you help me discern or help me with my words? Here's what I'd like to say. Is there a way in which I can communicate this more effectively? Do you have a suggestion? Go. And so that was massive. And so the people around also would, you know, help me with that. Whether it was with my tone, whether it was with the actual words, but they help you really. It's self reflective. They help you examine yourself so they might hear something that I don't hear. Yeah, I get called out about that. My son just did it to me the other day.
- [07:29]
A
Yeah.
- [07:30]
B
We went to church. At church, of all things, that could.
- [07:35]
A
Be the biggest mindville. Like you, my wife and I, we like, like, sometimes our most heated arguments are in the five minutes between our house and the church where just like I've rushed the everybody trying to get them out the door. I've, you know, somehow I've stepped in it or she stepped in it. And we, we're triggered. And we go straight from that to, hi, everybody.
- [07:54]
B
Yeah, totally. Well, I. I was talking to the pastor after.
- [07:58]
A
Yeah.
- [07:59]
B
And I said, hey, it was a great sermon. And it really was. And there was. There was kind of a joke made that said, oh, I was going to call him out about something, something. And I said, oh, because of this. To which their eyes kind of open and said, what do you mean? Like, is that not. Should I not have said that? And I kind of said, well, I didn't think you should have said that because. And I started basically going into a sermon, right. And started like, to the past. And we walked away.
- [08:30]
A
I've got some notes for you.
- [08:32]
B
It was a fine conversation. It ended up okay. But we walked away. And my son said, goes, mom, that was aggressive.
- [08:40]
A
Wow.
- [08:41]
B
And I went, what do you mean? I said, I just wanted him to know he didn't know. And he goes, but your tone was aggressive.
- [08:48]
A
Wow.
- [08:49]
B
And I said, wow. I didn't think it was. I was just passionate. And I wanted to make sure on.
- [08:56]
A
The View that was a two.
- [08:59]
B
And he was like, well, no, that was aggressive. And I said, okay, thank you for telling me. I will watch that.
- [09:05]
A
That's incredible.
- [09:06]
B
You know.
- [09:07]
A
Well, I think sometimes with kindness there just have has to be that teachability and the ability to say correct in real time. That. Oh, that came off a lot harsher than I meant it to.
- [09:16]
B
Yeah.
- [09:17]
A
And like, and I struggled with that for years on, like, film sets, because film sets can be a pressure cooker and it can reveal the worst parts of you where it's like, in the moment, I'm just. You go to rage because you feel so out of control that something that goes, doesn't go right. And what I realized is people were really trying to help me. And, you know, and that happened to me once when we were in the middle of mixing some. Something on the pre, pre, pre production that we're going to use in the film. And we're all trying to figure out this moment. It wasn't working. And then the engineer changed one thing in the studio of how it sounded, and it messed everything up. And I just bit his head off. Like, why the heck would you do that? And then in front of everybody and you saw him just kind of willed. And then it went back and we kind of moved past it. But then I. When we broke for lunch, I saw this one engineer named Bobby and he was over by himself. At the soundboard, just kind of his head down. And I was like. And so I went over to him. I was just like, yeah, man, you know, I bit your head off. But that was about me, not you. I felt really out of control, and I didn't know what I was doing. And I know you're trying to help me figure it out. And I responded in the heat of the moment, I was wrong. And then he was like. And I was like, thank you for your help. Sometimes kindness is an apology.
- [10:23]
B
Absolutely. The fact that you recognized it and you went over and said it, I've done that, too, in my life. I think that's the best step in moving forward that you can do when you do make a snap judgment or your tone is not the way you would want it to be, that you recognize it and just go, hey, man, I'm sorry that I did that well.
- [10:43]
A
And I think the ability to be teachable with it, I mean, that's really what the Story of Wonder came out of, is. It was based on a really popular fictional book that the author, R.J. palacio, she. She. She was in a. A restaurant, and there was a. A child that came in that had a specific syndrome and some physical deformities. And her. Her own kid kind of. Kind of pulled back, and her child didn't know how to respond, and. And so she kind of pulled her child to the side, and it's just like, let me help you understand this. You know, sometimes people that have disabilities have the biggest gift to give.
- [11:21]
B
Yeah.
- [11:21]
A
And so she began to think about that as an author. And so the story of Wonder formed out of that real life experience. And you see a lot of that pour into the script. And there's just a. There's a couple of quotes that I loved in it. You know, they were saying. Like, there was the one quote that they said at school. It said, be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle. And then it said that, you know, sometimes that people have the biggest gifts to give, like Augie. And then his mom at home was. He comes home after being discouraged because somebody had been bullying him. And he says that he's ugly. He points to his face, and she's pointing to her heart. She said, this is a map that shows us where we're going. Then she points to her face with her own wrinkles and said, this is the map that shows us where we've been, and it's never ugly. And words just have power, you know, for you, as you've taught kindness to your kids. It's one thing to live it, it's another thing to teach it. I mean, the fact that your son called you out in that moment is because obviously you've taught him about the power of words. How did you. How do you convey that to your children? To give them an empathy for a world and to react with that kindness? That's authentic.
- [12:33]
B
Yeah. Well, one thing I'll. What you said earlier about the author, that she wrote that out of her own child, kind of recoiling when they saw someone that looked different than them.
- [12:43]
A
Yep.
- [12:44]
B
That they weren't used to. And that. That in itself has been modeled in my life as well as we've tried to model that with our children's lives in that my mom and dad kind of had this open door policy growing up, and we every week on our show and my brother's show on Growing Pains, my mom would always work with organizations like the Starlight foundation or Make a Wish Foundation. So we had children that would come to the show every week. And my mom was really the one bringing that. Bringing those relationships in. So there was. There was. I was immediately, from a young age, recognized just in meeting kids, whether they were in the hospital or coming to the set, that, you know, not everyone has two arms.
- [13:41]
A
Yeah.
- [13:42]
B
Not everyone can walk.
- [13:44]
A
Yeah.
- [13:45]
B
Not everyone can stand up straight. You know, and. And then you look at the diseases or the disabilities that people have. So one. The impact of that, seeing people that don't look like us or don't have the abilities that that many of us have, recognizing it on a more familiar basis makes it feel normal and. Okay. So I think the week to week at a very young age was something to say, like, oh, my gosh. But they're just like me. Like, they're. Their mind, they're the way they talk, they're funny. Augie in the movie, when he was starting to make friends, his friends were like, I really like him because he's actually nicer than some of the other kids. And he's really funny. He might look different than me, but, like, I just like being around him because he's a. He's a great person. And so I love that my mom modeled that for us. And it wasn't just at work. When I say open door policy, my mom literally would invite just about every family to our house to stay at our house for the weekend or whatever. Like, I look back and I'm like, my mom was a saint, really. And so we. We did that in different ways with. With our kids as well. And any opportunity that I Could bring my kids with me if I was going to visit a children's hospital or something like that. But also on mission trips, you know, we took our kids when they were pretty young to the Dominican Republic with a. An organization called Compassion International that we worked, work with for many, many years. And, you know, I'll showing my kids people that live in impoverished countries and don't have a house with four walls, but it's actually a bed sheet and some sticks. I mean, that's a big eye opener. But it's a way in which we could say, yeah, not everyone lives how people in the US Live. You know, so that. That's just one way we tried to. To model and. And not hide that from our kids, but open it up and just say, you know, there's lots of blessings in the world, and it's a blessing that you. You have all the abilities that you have, and home that you have, and. But not to be scared or nervous that not everyone has that either. And then have those discussions, how does it make you feel? And how can, you know, what do you think about it? And just open up that we're all just people. We're all just people, and we're the same, and we have a heart and in a mind, and we're all of value because God made each and every one of us.
- [16:24]
A
I love that. You know, there's just such a gift in that of. Of being able to get your eyes off of yourself and find that you never know, like. Like that quote, that you never know what somebody's bringing, what they're. What they're struggling with, what their life experience is. And it's taking somebody that, instead of seeing different to seeing a need.
- [16:44]
B
Yeah.
- [16:44]
A
And. And then. And then, you know, I think it does as much for your heart as theirs when you can show that kindness. I think to see how many people are affected by Augie's story on the way and how many people are changed is beautiful. You know, one of the other things that I think is really a powerful gift of kindness is the opportunity to reach out to people that are different than you.
- [17:05]
B
Yeah.
- [17:05]
A
And be a witness.
- [17:06]
B
Yeah.
- [17:07]
A
You know. You know, as Christians that are in the industry, we have a double bottom line. You know, we're there to tell stories, but we're also there to love people on the way. And there was an old Christian rocker that was a good friend of mine that passed away last year named Milan Lefebvre. And so Milan just. Was an old Southern rocker, and just these simple, simple, kind of Georgia Boy. And he would call me all the time before each film shoot, and he would tell me, he's like, remember, your only job on this movie is to remind people they're desperately loved by God. That's it.
- [17:43]
B
Oh, I like your friend.
- [17:45]
A
That is that simple.
- [17:46]
B
And.
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A
And so I remember on. On one of the movies that I did, and I won't single out the actor because I don't want to put the name to it, but there was an actor that was really nervous about doing the film because she didn't know if people would accept her playing a Christian and incredible actor. But we really saw eye to eye on how to tell the story authentically, and she really invested in understanding the character. And Mylan's words really rang in my head as we got towards the end of rap. And I knew that this person had been criticized by Christians a lot. And so I gave as the rap gift. I got one of those giving key necklaces, and I got one that was black that had the word loved on it. And I gave it to her. And I just said. I just. I know that we say it's just words. We tease that it's just words, but I know a lot of Christians have used their words to hurt you. And I just want you to know on our set that you're loved by us, and I believe you're desperately loved by God. And to see that play out a year later where she came back and I had mentioned something like, I know faith is not really your thing. And she's like, you'd be impressed. Pressed to know that my faith meter is moving. And. And so I didn't. I didn't debate theology. I didn't try to get into. We did. It was really not about any issues other than that simple thing that my only communicated. Me.
- [19:15]
B
Yeah.
- [19:16]
A
Of your only job is to remind people they're desperately loved by God.
- [19:19]
B
Yeah.
- [19:20]
A
And so I think that's kindness in your life. How is opportunities for you to win over people that maybe disagree with you or just be a witness to people on your journey through kind of what's on your wall.
- [19:37]
B
Moms, dads, and kids are still struggling after the devastation of Hurricane Helene this Christmas season. You can help. Your $50 gift provides emergency essentials like food, water, and other critical supplies. You can make an eternal difference. And your gift will be doubled thanks to matching funds. Give securely through world help. Rated four stars by Charity Navigator give@worldhelp.net forward slash Candice. That's worldhelp.net forward slash Candace. I mean, those Those words. And I'm looking right now for the people listening. I'm looking at the words be kind that are on this wall. And they are significant to me. They are meaningful and powerful and. And yet, you know, I, I mean, I, it, it never ceases to, to feel, to happen. Some headline will pop up how like I'm the rudest, rudest celebrity someone's ever met.
- [20:35]
A
I always laugh when I see that. Like, there's a lot of other people that I'm like, yeah, legit. Yeah, that person, sure. But I'm like Candace. Like, really? She's like the sweetest person.
- [20:46]
B
Thank you. Sometimes I'm surprised too. I'm like, okay. But I know, hey, every. We all have bad days too. Maybe someone caught me on a. Not a great day. I don't know. But, but I really do try to, to live this out. And I, I think kindness is really being thoughtful and, and listening to people. And that's what I. Another thing that I, I try to remind myself is that I want to be present, but I want to listen to you and I want your voice to be heard. My voice is not more important than yours.
- [21:19]
A
Yes.
- [21:19]
B
To, to jump in with my opinion. So listening is such a valuable tool to me. And I, because I know that when I walk into a room and someone's looks me in the eye and they'll actually listen to whatever I have to say, that makes me feel loved, heard, and that's kind of that person.
- [21:40]
A
Yeah.
- [21:41]
B
And so I remember how it makes me feel. So I want to always do that to others, you know, And I think in a, in a way that's about storytelling, it's pretty cool that we have the opportunity to use our real life stories to impact the stories that we do tell and whatever within the message that we want to share. And I've been a part of a couple of cool projects over the years. I mean, one of my, you know, one of my first, probably five Christmas movies that I had done, which is crazy to say because I just did 15.
- [22:17]
A
14. 14. Ye. I did my homework. I was like, I did my homework. I was like, how many? I was like, 14.
- [22:26]
B
I think this one was like my third or fourth Christmas movie.
- [22:29]
A
But does that come with like a title of Mrs. Claus or anything that goes with it?
- [22:32]
B
It should.
- [22:32]
A
It should.
- [22:33]
B
It should. I did this movie called the Heart of Christmas. Matthew west was in it and also was nominated for an Emmy for his song the Heart of Christmas based on that movie.
- [22:44]
A
Love it.
- [22:45]
B
And you know, it was this beautiful story about a Little boy that had a rare form of leukemia and they didn't know if he'd see another Christmas. And he loved Christmas.
- [22:56]
A
Wow.
- [22:57]
B
So, you know, in October, early in the year, their family started putting up Christmas lights in the Christmas tree and wanted to give him a Christmas in case he didn't make it until December 25th. And that whole community ended up rallying around and that whole town put up their Christmas lights, like everything to make it feel like Christmas. It's a really beautiful. Was a beautiful story. But talk about the power of kindness. And it was like one neighbor going, hey, man, why are you putting your lights up in October?
- [23:26]
A
Yeah.
- [23:26]
B
And then saying, because, you know, my son loves Christmas. And then a whole town rallying was really awesome.
- [23:33]
A
So beautiful.
- [23:34]
B
You know, there's another story that I want to tell. I haven't yet, but it's been one of those stories that's on my plate for probably 10 years. I've been thinking about it, saying, this would make a great movie. And so I love how the influence of the people that impact us over our life also give us stories that we can tell in a much broader. To a broader audience that ultimately lead back to kindness.
- [24:02]
A
That's beautiful. You know, just how the story spin it off. And this is kind of a little shameless plug. When you picked Wonder and you're the one that picked it. I didn't. It's connected to a movie that we have coming out.
- [24:16]
B
And so let's just talk about it, because I saw it.
- [24:19]
A
You saw it?
- [24:20]
B
I saw it.
- [24:21]
A
It's so good.
- [24:21]
B
It's so good.
- [24:24]
A
Yeah, it's. It's a spin off of Wonder. And so it's called White Bird. And so it comes out October 4th. But Mark Forster, who's a master storyteller, did movies like Finding Neverland and Christopher Robin, incredible filmmaker, has a spin off story of this that was. So the author of Wonder wrote a graphic novel novel that went along with it that is like a. It's a spin off. So the character of Julian, who was the bully in the first movie, he has been kicked out of school. And we follow his character. He goes home to his grandmother complaining about his life situation and how he's being persecuted for being a bully. And his mother, his grandmother, played by the amazing Helen Mirren, sits down and it's like, you do not know your story. You do not know your history.
- [25:11]
B
Yeah.
- [25:11]
A
And she takes him back to World War II, when she was a little Jewish girl in World War II during the Holocaust. And a group of Christians that put their life literally on the line to save her and with. Through the power of kindness. And there's a little quote in there that just when I. When I watched the film, it broke me down. And I was like, whatever we have to do to be a part of this, we're in. And. And so. But the line was, Helen Mirren's character gives a speech, and she says, when an act of kindness can cost you your life, it becomes something of a miracle. And, like, so powerful today in this age where if you speak out with a word of kindness and people disagree with your perspective for standing up for the right person or. Or for standing, you know, up for somebody that's being persecuted and they don't agree, it can literally cost you your job. It can cost you a lot of things, and it becomes something of a miracle when you're willing to put your life on the line. It's one thing to say a kind word. It's another thing to put your life in the way for somebody else and say, whatever consequences comes with it, it's the right thing to do. And that's what this film. So you watched it? What did you think?
- [26:16]
B
I watched it. You know, I had seen the trailer for it in the theater and was like, oh, I am going to see that movie. And you, kind sir, thank you. Sent me a screener link. However, I'm gonna go back to the theater and prove that movie deserves the big screen.
- [26:33]
A
God bless you.
- [26:33]
B
But I absolutely loved it. It was so beautiful. And, I mean, it's Gillian Anderson and Helen Mirren, so. And the children that were in it.
- [26:44]
A
They'Re so beautiful and fresh.
- [26:45]
B
Yes, they. The performances were so powerful, so wonderful, but I. I don't think I blinked through the whole movie. It really. It really impacted me, and I just. I cried. And it's one of those movies where I will be on my social media telling everyone, you have to go see this movie. And just. I don't know where we are in the world and reminding us of where we've been and what the history is, you know, where Israel's at right now. And just seeing the lengths that these people have gone through to hide Holocaust survivors was. It's just incredible. And it's a reminder we need and should never forget. But it's a beautifully told story and. And also is a story of love in many ways.
- [27:37]
A
Yeah.
- [27:38]
B
So, anyway, you guys got to go see it. Like, go see White Bird.
- [27:44]
A
I appreciate it. We. You know, it is one that is really important, especially with the current climate and, you know, Just these people that. That are God's special chosen people and the persecutions they've endured over the years. So that's. The desire is to tell this story that is applicable regardless. I mean, it's a universal idea of standing up for the persecuted.
- [28:06]
B
Yeah.
- [28:06]
A
But the idea of the historical context is not missed a year removed from October 7th. So. Yeah.
- [28:13]
B
I also love going back to wonder with Auggie. I also love in this movie that. So they. The point of view is from four different characters, or actually maybe five or six, depending on how you look at it. But they tell a little bit of how Auggie hears the story and then how his sister, how it plays out with her, and how it plays out with the best friend and it plays out with another little boy. And I also just love this that they focused on the other people's perspective and how they felt within Augie's story and how their life revolved around that. And. And even with the sister just feeling like she had been missed. Missed.
- [28:55]
A
Yeah. They broke so many rules with, like. I still scratch my head on that one, because on paper, the way that they told that story should not have worked. But for whatever reason, just the goodness of the film and how much you cared about the journey, you just go with it. And each one of those leaves something really beautiful. The sister is the one that really.
- [29:15]
B
Yeah.
- [29:15]
A
For me, just slay is me. Is her perspective.
- [29:17]
B
Me, too.
- [29:18]
A
But. And, like, the little tidbits in it, like, I love all the nostalgia. I love that Augie rides the ET Bicycle that Elliot rode in ET it's the same kind of bicycle. Yeah. And then. And then I loved that the principal is played by Mandy Patinkin, that plays Iniga Montoya and. And Princess Bride. You know, you killed my father. Prepare to die.
- [29:40]
B
Yes.
- [29:41]
A
So there's just a lot of really cool little moments in it. So. You know, I think ultimately what works for that movie is a biblical principle. And it's just, you know, in John 13:35, Jesus said that the world will know that we're his disciples by the love we have, one for another. And I just think a lot of times as Christians, we've been pushed into this idea that the ultimate way that we need to defend what we believe is by winning the argument.
- [30:07]
B
Yeah.
- [30:07]
A
But I think a lot of times God's called us to win the hearts.
- [30:10]
B
Yeah.
- [30:10]
A
And that's. We do that by how we display kindness and love.
- [30:15]
B
Yeah.
- [30:15]
A
And that's what it's about.
- [30:16]
B
I agree with you. And I'm going to talk about something that happened a little. A little while back. But there's a balance in the ways in which we do that. Because I had spoken up about the Olympic Games.
- [30:30]
A
Yeah.
- [30:31]
B
And I. I tried to share with what, you know, I thought hurt me as a Christian, watching.
- [30:40]
A
Absolutely.
- [30:40]
B
With as much grace and love as I could, but also with a desperation of caring about someone's soul.
- [30:50]
A
Absolutely.
- [30:50]
B
And that's the heart of me. And yet, you know, the Christian who understands what I'm trying to convey understood it, and we're very positive and receptive to that. However, to someone who's not a Christian, you know, I. They came back and said, you know, you're the worst version of a Christian. You're so judgmental. You're. You're awful. You make me want to walk away from religion. And that's also not what I want to do either.
- [31:21]
A
Right.
- [31:21]
B
It's a hard balance for us.
- [31:23]
A
Right.
- [31:24]
B
Because sometimes. Sometimes just walking it and not talking about it, just like you giving the giving key with love was probably the best example you could have done without words. And yet sometimes I feel like there's a time and a place for words in truth and in love. And it's just a hard balance to find because you're never gonna please everyone. Someone who, you know, might receive it one way and another person receives it another.
- [31:55]
A
I think. Yeah. Sometimes I think if you're getting criticism from both sides, sometimes I think you're doing it completely right. Because it is about that balance that, yes, I'm called to stand for what I believe, but I'm also called to love the people that I interact with along the way. And it's that tension in that that I think a lot of times it's not an easy one thing or the other. And I think a lot of times that can be. The gospel can be offensive to both the people that don't want to hear it and also the hyper religious.
- [32:29]
B
Yeah.
- [32:29]
A
And sometimes just stay in the consistent path that being like, you know, time will tell. And that's the thing I've loved about you, is you don't get in needing to defend yourself. You just stand for it and just let it pass.
- [32:42]
B
Yeah.
- [32:42]
A
And I think there's just something about just having confidence that God will defend your heart if you just continue to do it for the right reasons.
- [32:50]
B
Yeah.
- [32:50]
A
That's. That's the ultimate definition of kindness to me.
- [32:53]
B
You. I mean, you just gave a great example of how you've shared your faith with one of the actors on this set. And just walking that walk. I mean, Are there different ways in which you share your faith?
- [33:08]
A
Yeah. You know, I think for me, you know, one of the gifts is the fact that with any actor that I cast, they're going to interact with faith by the material they're having to wrestle with. So I actually really like casting what I call benevolent skeptics. People that they're not hostile towards faith, but they don't really believe it because then it's fresh, it's not churchy, and they have to wrestle with, how does this apply to me? And then I think that's where it comes off the freshest. And then we have these amazing conversations about faith. You know, when we did the baptism scene in Woodlawn with the coach who comes into the black church and is baptized by the pastor played by Devon Franklin, Nick Bishop, that played the role, he doesn't come from that point of view. He. It's not. But before we shot it, for 45 minutes, we sat out on the curb and he said, help walk me through exactly what we're doing here and what this means of what's happened in my life. Get to this point. And so we just had amazing conversations. I think the biggest gift for me, and I think God has called people to different ways. I'm not a big philosopher. I don't. I think. I don't think I would do well on the. The view is not.
- [34:20]
B
It's.
- [34:21]
A
That's not my venue. I'm relational. Yeah. But, you know, for me, I think the gift is loving people until they get to a point of crisis in their life. And I think a lot of times a point of crisis is the biggest gift, because all of a sudden, they come your way and they really want to know, and they go to the place where they felt loved. But then God's called other people to really stand in the gap and say, no, I need to stand up for what's true and what's right and to stand up against injustices.
- [34:50]
B
Yeah.
- [34:50]
A
And I don't know that that's wrong either. I think that that's what God's called them to do. I just think God's called some people to plant the seed, some people to water, some people to harvest.
- [34:58]
B
Yeah.
- [34:58]
A
So play your part in the journey and don't feel like I don't have to be the prophet out there, like, yelling like, thus says the Lord. That's not me.
- [35:07]
B
Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I'm John the Baptist. Like, I don't know.
- [35:15]
A
I don't know. I need to be covered in brood of vipers.
- [35:17]
B
Yeah, little old me. Come on.
- [35:21]
A
That's funny. That's funny. She got some scrap to you, some feistiness. But. But I think as long as it's coming from a place of a desire to honor and walk with the Lord and the desire to win hearts and minds, then be who you are.
- [35:36]
B
I love that. I love that. I love everyone listening to this because it's an encouragement to know that especially when you're watching television and watching film, there's so many people like Andy, like me, that, you know, you might not be watching anything that's faith based or Christian based, but there's so many incredible Christians that are working in this industry that are sharing the gospel and loving on people like Jesus.
- [36:07]
A
Yep.
- [36:08]
B
But it's, it's behind the scenes, you know, And I just, it's an encouragement. And I, I get this question a lot too. They're like, people write in and say, you know, maybe my son or daughter wants to be an actor or a director. And I'm nervous for them to go into the entertainment industry. And I'm like, come on in, man. We need you. We do, we need you. But. But know who you are in God, you know, so you're not swayed by the world when they push you to make a decision.
- [36:33]
A
Yeah.
- [36:34]
B
Know who you are. But anyway, it's. I just love people hearing this because I'm like, guys, there's good people in the entertainment industry.
- [36:44]
A
I love that. I love it.
- [36:47]
B
Okay, well, should we go to a listener question?
- [36:49]
A
Yeah, I'm all for it. It's your show.
- [36:50]
B
I go, where'd you go? Oh, this is a good one from Jennifer. If you are not in entertainment, what other career would you choose? And why?
- [37:00]
A
My kids are going to struggle to eat, because I don't know that I have any other qualified skills. You know, there was a, you know, my, my, my wife has gotten into kind of like farming and stuff, and, and so I think she's geared towards that. I don't know that I would do really well at that. I, you know, in college when I was doing videography on the side, like, I was part of this service team and we went out and had to build things and, And I was so bad at it that they came up to me and they're like, andy, we want you to videotape everybody doing the service project and working. I was like, what are we using the video for? And they're like, we don't know.
- [37:38]
B
We just need you to get. Walk away. We didn't see you building material.
- [37:41]
A
Do not hold any power tools. Just hold this camera and figure it out.
- [37:45]
B
So funny.
- [37:45]
A
But you know, for me, I've always, you know, I've always loved creative. I think that I would probably, if I wasn't working in film, you know, I would probably want to work around music in some capacity. I know enough about music to be dangerous. But, but I, I think I do find that it's one of the more romantic. I mean, I guess every actor or filmmaker wants to, you know, sing and every singer wants to act. But you know, I've always thought that music is fascinating to me.
- [38:15]
B
Yeah.
- [38:16]
A
Even though I don't think that I would ever be a musician. I think maybe a music producer or something like that would be something that I find fascinating.
- [38:22]
B
Yeah, that's cool.
- [38:23]
A
So what about you?
- [38:26]
B
I think I would probably be in fashion.
- [38:31]
A
Yeah, I could see that.
- [38:32]
B
I really love that. I mean I've had, I've seen the.
- [38:34]
A
Amount of shoes in the next room.
- [38:35]
B
Yeah, it's significant clothing line also. It's still a lot of samples and things that work on. But I really do love fashion. So I feel like, I don't know, I could have been a seamstress, I could have just been a fashion designer, something. But I, I enjoy getting dressed, I enjoy style, I enjoy looking at people's style. It just makes me feel more confident in the day, not in a surfacey level. I just, just really enjoy fashion. And here, here's a Someone I think in the question it had also mentioned maybe if you lived a hundred years ago and TV didn't exist, what would you do?
- [39:08]
A
I'm really in trouble. And then the frontier life is not going to be good.
- [39:14]
B
Cowgirl, cowgirl.
- [39:16]
A
Just go rogue.
- [39:17]
B
Cowgirl.
- [39:18]
A
I think I'd be some sort of like, like. Okay, so though. And I don't know how well I would do this, we probably would get like, you know, maybe a couple hundred miles and we would die on the, the frontier. But I, we, we did a drive out west and we drove through Idaho and we were going through like the, the Lewis and Clark expedition and the idea of being an explorer and seeing things for the first time back then like you know, a couple hundred years ago, like that seems romantic to me. I think in practicality we would be in trouble. But I think as far as like, it sounds like fun. I'm in.
- [39:51]
B
Good. That sounds fun. That was a fun question. Thank you, Jennifer. Okay guys, we are gonna wrap it up. Remember that Andy and I have a family entertainment guide for you. It's a simple PDF with ideas and some questions that you can ask your family and friends when you watch a movie together. Just go to Candace.com to find the link and it's in our show Notes. Until next time. Be grateful all day, every day. Candy Rock Entertainment all rights reserved.