Stephen Baldwin on Im in Love With A Church Girl, Ja Rule and Christianity in Hollywood (CP Exclusive) Actor and reality star Stephen Baldwin stars in the new film Im in Love With A Church Girl, which opened in theaters across the country this past weekend. Related 10 Amazing Testimonies From Famous People Incl. Bethany Hamilton, Kirk Cameron, Mike Huckabee and Others Im in Love With a Church Girl Staring Ja Rule, TobyMac, Stephen Baldwin Embarks on US Church Tour 5 Things You Didnt Know About Stephen Baldwin Stephen Baldwin Starring in New Christian Film, Says Expressing His Christian Faith Kept Him Out of Movies for a Decade The youngest of the Baldwin brothers plays the role of FBI agent Jason McDaniels in the film. It also stars hip-hop heavyweight Jeff Ja Rule Atkins as Miles Montego, a reformed drug dealer who falls for church girl Vanessa Leon, played by former 3LW and Cheetah Girls member Adrienne Bailon. The film opened in over 500 theaters last Friday and is Baldwins first theatrically released film in 10 years. Baldwin recently sat down with The Christian Post to discuss the new movie and his Christian faith. The Christian Post: What attracted you to play the role of Jason McDaniels in the film Im in Love With a Church Girl? Stephen Baldwin: I got a phone call from Galley Molina, who is the writer and executive producer. Its about his life story. I think the thing that was most interesting was for several years being a Christian, I had been looking around for opportunities that in my opinion would be more engaging and more culturally relevant. So, when Galley told me that the legendary hip-hop artist Ja Rule was starring in the film and playing the role of the character [based on Galley] that was the first very positive thought I had about [doing the film]. CP: What was it like working with musical talents such as rapper Ja Rule and worship leader Israel Houghton in the film? SB: Working on the film with Ja Rule was a little intimidating for me. Ive been acting for 25 years but this guy in the 90s had number one hits with Jennifer Lopez. I was a fan. ... I was a little bit taken aback for that reason. Israel Houghton is within the realm of Christian and worship music ... Hes won 5 Grammy Awards. Hes just legendary. It was exciting. It was thrilling for me because in addition to those two guys Adrienne Bailon, Vincent Pastore, Michael Madsen, you just have this slate of talent thats just involved with [the film]. That really made you want to champion this thing. But what was amazing for me was the vision of the film was to create one that was unapologetic in its Christian message while at the same time was willing to take a risk as far as being a little bit more edgy. CP: What is it like to have a major film in theaters after 10 years? SB: For me, a little bit of my being so excited about that and surprised was by design. I kind of havent been pursuing the normal Hollywood stuff for quite some time ... [Galley said] Im getting this thing out, Im going to get my story out, Gods going to do something very unique here. He wanted to stay true to that throughout the vision. Im in Love With A Church Girl may be one of a very small handful of totally in your face unapologetic Christian movies thats hitting 500 screens. Thats quite unusual in the distribution process in Hollywood. So the fact that the companies that are involved in this [such as] Sony and Vivendi is really encouraging. CP: How has your Christian faith impacted your actions and behavior when you starred on hit reality series such as Celebrity Apprentice? SB: When you do reality you have to be pretty careful. You have to almost monitor yourself to make sure that you dont get yourself in situations that you shouldnt [be in]. But at the same time I kind of find that exciting because Im a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Im a skydiver, I race motorcycles and I enjoy the thrill of life and for me in this walk of faith there really is no greater thrill than the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life. All of the reality TV Ive done has usually been simultaneously an opportunity to create awareness or raise funds for my moms breast cancer organization. Ive always competed in those shows. Like I won Fear Factor, I did Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, I did The Mole, Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump. Ive done a lot of those shows all in the hope of being a blessing to my moms organization. But at the same time I love unique platforms in order to do your best to stand for your faith as long as its not something that is hurtful or negative. I welcome that opportunity. Its always fun. But you do have to use as much wisdom and discernment as you can. CP: Which part of your career has been more enjoyable? Before you came to the faith, or afterwards? SB: Im going to answer that honestly. Enjoyable is a relative word because I could say something cliché like well the joy of the Lord is yippy yay, praisalluia, you know, its all good all the time. I definitely think that since Ive become born again, if you understand in the supernatural realm the spiritual warfare that goes on everyday, Ive had far greater challenges on a personal level than before I became a Christian. For me, Ive never been too concerned of what people think of me, so now as the youngest Baldwin brother in Hollywood making movies while simultaneously being a charismatic evangelical born again Christian whos an evangelist-- thats a pretty crazy combination. But early on in my walk of faith I said a very personal prayer and made a commitment to God. I said if you reveal yourself to me in a way that is more thrilling and powerful and exciting than anything Ive experience thus far, then Ill go anywhere and do whatever you want. And that can be very tough. I know a lot of Christians who have been in ministry and walked away from it because the pressure can be too great. And theres a lot of Christians who at the same time would say like well why does God do [certain things]. What I found is Christians regardless of whatever their experience is who trust God more and learn to go through those moments of challenge and persevere. Usually the end result is an experience and interaction with the Holy Spirit thats greater than it was previously. And for me, there is no pursuit that I desire or enjoy more than that interaction. So, it is challenging. I think life was kind of easier and my career was what it was prior to being a born again Christian. And thats OK, because I believe God lets us go through all of what we go through for a reason and its all part of a continued learning curve and journey of revelation and knowledge.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 01:00:37 +0000
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