{"id":1782,"date":"2024-06-07T10:07:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T14:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/?p=1782"},"modified":"2024-06-07T10:07:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T14:07:52","slug":"kevin-sorbo-talks-destination-heaven-faith-based-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/2024\/06\/07\/kevin-sorbo-talks-destination-heaven-faith-based-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Sorbo Talks ‘Destination Heaven,’ Faith-Based Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Kevin Sorbo appears as Darrell in ‘Destination Heaven.’ Image courtesy of Great American Media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the new Great American Pure Flix series \u201cDestination Heaven,\u201d Harry Lennix (\u201cThe Blacklist,\u201d \u201cMan of Steel\u201d) stars as God as He encounters people from all walks of life who are challenged, encouraged and ultimately changed. The series will include guest appearances from Doug Jones, Emily Rose, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Carrie Wampler, John Michael Finley, and Hero Hunter. In the first episode, Kevin Sorbo (\u201cGod\u2019s Not Dead,\u201d \u201cHercules\u201d) appears as Darrell, a homeless man who\u2019s faced hard times and needs a helping hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just been dealt a bad hand, and he’s become pretty bitter about it,\u201d Sorbo said.<\/p>\n

Darrell befriends Jenna Tate, a businesswoman who gives him money and \u201cthey actually end up helping each other.\u201d Sorbo said the lesson here is to not judge a book by its cover and to reach out to others through human kindness. Through trying to help Darrell, Jenna ultimately finds that God was trying to help her all along.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s great messaging, what they’re doing,\u201d he said. \u201c(Great American Pure Flix) created the series, and it’s just a reminder to the people that God is always available for the toughest parts of people’s lives, and that’s what I think this series is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actor, who first rose to prominence on the hit television series \u201cHercules: The Legendary Journeys,\u201d said returning to television, especially not as the main character, was \u201cpretty easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just did one episode, but a show like \u2018Hercules,\u2019 when you\u2019re the star of the show and you got all these action things you got to do as well, it was pretty much door to door for me,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019d be around 16-17 hours every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past decade, Sorbo has been at the forefront of faith-based entertainment, first through the breakthrough hit \u201cGod\u2019s Not Dead\u201d and then a series of Christian films such as \u201cLet There Be Light\u201d and \u201cLeft Behind: Rise of the Antichrist.\u201d For him, those films are part of a \u201cspiritual battle\u201d between opposing ideologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalt Disney said back in the 1950s that movies and television will influence our youth,\u201d he said. \u201cYou certainly see the way it’s influenced the youth out there. You see the anger; you see the over-sexualization. The stuff they have on TV now today, you wouldn’t have that on the show even back in the 70s or 80s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Great American Media, he says, is \u201cfighting back in a friendly way,\u201d giving parents options of entertainment that encourages, inspires, and safe to watch with their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get stopped all the time by people saying, \u2018We love what you do. We love the products and projects you\u2019re a part of. I know I can take my family to watch it,’\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorbo continues to line up new projects. First up is \u201cThe Firing Squad,\u201d releasing August 2, which is a true story about a man who killed someone in Indonesia when he was in his twenties and received a death sentence. During his time in prison, \u201che became a pastor, he found God.\u201d The pastor prayed many people through to faith in Christ before his (spoiler alert) execution in 2015. In \u201cReagan,\u201d the highly anticipated biopic of the former president starring Dennis Quaid, Sorbo again steps into the shoes of a pastor.<\/p>\n

After that, he has three documentaries releasing, one dealing with The Last Supper, and three more movies to film this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a busy year for me and a lot of travel coming up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As far as his breakthrough turn in the original \u201cGod\u2019s Not Dead,\u201d which earned more than $140 million, would there be a chance to bring Sorbo back to the franchise, even though his character, Professor Radisson, was killed?<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard rumors about that,\u201d he said. \u201cI was just at the International Christian Film Festival in Orlando. I met with the writer of the last two or three \u2018God\u2019s Not Dead\u2019 films. They just finished shooting the fifth one. He said, \u2018Would you go back into one if we came up with a way to resuscitate your character from God’s Not Dead 1?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorbo explained to the writer that he had a script that could have accomplished that feat, which he ultimately turned into the film \u201cLet There Be Light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDestination Heaven,\u201d starring Harry Lennix, is currently airing on Great American Pure Flix<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the new Great American Pure Flix series \u201cDestination Heaven,\u201d Harry Lennix (\u201cThe Blacklist,\u201d \u201cMan of Steel\u201d) stars as God as He encounters people from all walks of life who are challenged, encouraged and ultimately changed. The series will include guest appearances from Doug Jones, Emily Rose, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Carrie Wampler, John Michael Finley, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":683,"featured_media":1785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[200],"tags":[618,615,612],"class_list":["post-1782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-news","tag-destination-heaven","tag-hercules","tag-kevin-sorbo"],"yoast_head":"\nKevin Sorbo Talks 'Destination Heaven,' Faith-Based Entertainment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIt's great messaging, what they're doing,\u201d he said. \u201c(Great American Pure Flix) created the series, and it's just a reminder to the people that God is always available for the toughest parts of people's lives, and that's what I think this series is all about.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta 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