November 10, 2010 5:55 PM
"Si si, Pastor Kenny, I want Jesus to be my Birthday amigo!"
I say to myself, in a slightly offensive Latin accent. I'm in character of course, playing Pastor Kenny in Steve Taylor's adaption of the acclaimed Donald Miller book "Blue Like Jazz".
For those who don't know, my wife is from Nashville, TN. We visit often. I friggin' love it there! A friend of ours is also a talent agent and when I'm in town he'll submit me for projects shooting in town. So I read for it, booked it, and shortly thereafter was treated to come back to Nash for a four day stint on the flick.It's a tale about a young Christian Baptist who attends one of the most God-less Colleges in the US where his views and his heart is challenged. Truly, it's one of the best scripts I've read in a long time. The role of Donald is played by True Blood's Marshall Hallman, who kills it in this movie, and I was way impressed to hear how the whole project came about. It was slated to shoot in '08, but investors pulled out leaving it in flux. Fans of the book came together and pushed it on a movie investment website called Kickstarter. Eight days and $345k later...the movie is in production!
I consider myself spiritual but do not associate myself with any one religion. Not that you asked. I'm sharing this with you because although my beliefs are different than those expressed in the movie, after reading the script, I found it to be way relevent, funny, and important. I do not normally gravitate towards films with a single religious undertone. Nothing wrong with that, but at the time I might be craving something with senseless sex and violence. "Blue Like Jazz" is a friggin' great story, it's being executed with expert care, I'm so proud to have been in this labor of love and I truly can't wait to see it!
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