Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 07/19/24

40 years ago Dennis Quaid voted for Ronald Reagan – now he’s playing him. The veteran actor has earned a reputation for nailing portrayals of historic icons –  from astronaut Gordon Cooper in 1983’s The Right Stuff to Bill Clinton in 2010’s The Special Relationship, among others.  Despite that, he says the challenge of taking on the role of the 40 President of the United States in Reagan (due in theater on August 30th) sent a “shiver of fear” down his spine. My Q&A with Quaid, in which he also reflects on the Christian faith he shares with his subject, can be read at Religion & Liberty Online.

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Soul rider. Meanwhile, filmmaker Sean McNamara, whose long list of credits include 2011’s Soul Surfer and this summer’s Reagan (see above), is having a busy season – as his new hour-long family drama series Shadrach is set to debut with two episodes this coming Thursday (July 25th) on Great American Pure Flix. The series follows the saga of the Wilson family as they move from the city to the country and have their lives forever changed when 12-year-old Anna encounters a very special horse.

JWK: So, tell me about Shadrach.

Sean McNamara: Shadrach is a story about the Wilson family who live in the city of Atlanta. The father loses his job because his brother, who he owns a company with, gambled the money away and they’ve gone bankrupt. So, they’ve got to move in with Rose, the wife’s, parents. They move to the country and then they just learn all these wonderful things through this amazing horse, Shadrach, who they meet…It’s kinda (about) the family getting back to basics – doing thing outside, not sitting (at their) computers all day. It’s a family show. That’s what I do. I do family movies.

JWK: Everyone knows your reputation for creating inspirational films like Soul Surfer. Why’d you choose to take on this particular television series project?

SM: I just read (the pilot script). I loved the idea of it. I grew up on shows like The Waltons (and) The Brady Bunch. I mean just really nice programming. I made a lot of family shows for Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. What I loved about this is it was just back to basics. I have three boys now. They’ll be sitting on their computers or playing video games. It’s like I just want to get them out of the house and back into nature. So, it was like let me just do a show to show you how that’s possible. There’s nothing like it. We shot it in Atlanta where they have these beautiful farms and all these farm animals – especially the horses! Hollywood Accolade is the horse that plays Shadrach. It was must amazing to work with such talented individuals – the trainers, the actors. Livi Birch plays Anna. I will say that she’s just an extraordinary actress and we get to tell these amazing faith-based stories.

JWK: When I was growing up there were a lot of shows about kids and their pets. It’s was like genre of it own. You had Lassie, Flipper and Fury – which was also about a horse.

SM: Sure.

JWK: So, this show strikes me as kind of like a throwback to a genre that hasn’t been seen in years.

SM: Exactly! It just that sort of back to basics – but it’s still cool! It’s modern. It just shows you if you had to move from the city – from the bustling Downtown Atlanta area to out in the country – that your life could still be absolutely amazing. That’s kind of like what we wanted to tell. We wanted to get back to faith, get back to the basics.

JWK: Is this going to be on ongoing series – or does this have a limited run?

SM: Right now we’ve done the first six of them. We’re hoping, if it does well, we’ll get Season 2.

JWK: What’s it like working with a horse actor?

SM: It’s the best in the world! I’ve had the good fortune to be able to work with a lot of animals in the movies I’ve done. Working with Hollywood Accolade was just fantastic! He’s just lovely to groom and pet. I didn’t ride Hollywood in this but all the actors got to. Just watching them ride brings pure joy. I have dogs. I have two big golden retriever dogs who are sitting next to me during (this) interview. Horses are just a big version of them, just lovely to be around and wonderful, wonderful animals.

JWK: Do you find they have different personalities like dogs do?

SM: Oh, absolutely. Definitely! We have multiple horses in the series. They definitely have their own personalities.

JWK: What do you hope people take from this show?

SM: Specifically, I hope they learn to say “Look, we don’t always have to be playing video games. We don’t always have to be doing technology.” They can walk away from this and get outside, get out into the sunshine, go work with their family, go to church or go do something around the house that’s not on a computer or anything. I’d just like people to get back to basics.

JWK: There aren’t too many shows these days that the family can watch together. They’re either specifically aimed at the kids or their specifically aims at adults. This strikes me as a show that the whole family can sit down and watch.

SM: That was the whole point – to get a show that the whole family could watch. Those are the kinds of things I’ve done, like Soul Surfer, The Miracle Season and Spare Parts. It’s for the whole family. I feel this is just the extension of that. Everybody can watch Shadrach – a show about a family finding this amazing animal.

JWK: So, I gather you’re a fan of classic TV. What were some of your favorites growing up?

SM: The Waltons, The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island. I liked comedies. I liked Star Trek. I liked sci-fi. It was just fun! We all sat around (watching). I’m one of six kids. Literally, with our parents, it was eight of us watching shows together. It was amazing!

JWK: I can relate. So, what’s next for you?

SM: Reagan is coming out August 30th. That’ll be good. That’s with Dennis Quaid, Penelope Ann Miller and Jon Voight. They’re all starring in that.

JWK: I just did a Q&A with Dennis Quaid about the movie that can be found at Religion & Liberty Online.

SM: Cool! He’s amazing in it!

JWK: I’d love to talk more with you about that as it gets closer.

SM: Absolutely!

JWK: Briefly though, tell me a little bit about the film?

SM: We just follow Reagan’s life from when he’s 11-years-old…through when he became a radio personality, an actor, the vice president of the Screen Actors Guild, president of SAG and then governor of California. Then he kinda like retired (and) then he went and ran for president in ’76. He lost. Then we was retired again. Four years later he ran again in 1980 and became president at 69 – relatively young by today’s standards. He was president for eight years. After he was president the Wall came down because of his efforts. 

JWK: You tell all that in one movie?

SM: It’s a slice of life. It’s just telling his whole story.

JWK: Wow! Can’t wait to see it. Getting back to Shadrach, is there anything else you’d like to say about that as we wrap up?

SM: I would just say…watch Shadrach. You won’t be disappointed. It’s a great family show…It’s emotional. It’s got laughs. It’s got drama. It’s got everything.