You have a history of playing flawed, complicated, broken men. What attracts you to these roles?<\/p>\n
Well, they present themselves to me, and those characters make good drama. If people don’t have conflicts, contradictions, and faults, then there is no drama there. My favorite part of all time was probably Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove; I also played Josef Stalin in a TV movie. I also always try to find the vulnerable side and the positive side of the character….<\/p>\n
Some people thought The Apostle was mocking Southern holiness or Pentecostal preachers \u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n
Who said that?<\/p>\n
Oh, some Christians wished it had been a more positive portrayal of a preacher rather than a man with all these \u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n
Let me straighten these people out. And you can put it in print. My guy [Rev. Euliss “Sonny” Dewey, the title character] killed a guy out of anger, right? But he wasn’t one half as bad as King David in the Psalms, who sent a man off to be killed so he could be with his wife. Every time I read the Psalms I think of that. But on the other hand, I heard that Billy Graham liked the movie, and many, many preachers did. Rev. James Robison of Fort Worth said I could use anything from any of his services to put in the film. So I’m not mocking.<\/p>\n
If Hollywood had done this, they would have mocked these people. No, I did not mock these people. I didn’t patronize these people. I’ve been in many, many churches, Pentecostal churches. I could have made these people look bad if I wanted to. So you can tell these people I did not mock these people or condescend at all. Had I done it in a Hollywood movie, we would have patronized these people. That’s why I had to do the movie myself.<\/p>\n