The Hill star Colin Ford knows many faith

Jul 19, 2023

The stigma against faith-based films is generally harsh, and usually warranted. Even The Hill star Colin Ford acknowledged this.

Growing up in a religious household, I've seen my fair share of cheesy faith-based movies. Whether it's the God's Not Dead franchise or The War Room, these films are embarrassing. But yet, you want to rep them. It's like wearing a jersey for a team that perpetually stinks.

Ford is a man of faith, and is unashamed about it as he revealed in our interview (conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike). The Bible verse Philippians 4:13 — his favorite verse — resides in his social media bios. That doesn't mean he can't also see that the faith-based film genre is a flawed one.

“Well, I think if you're just specifically talk about faith-based films and the stigma that they're kind of corny, you're not wrong,” Ford confessed.

But he believes there's a reason for this: The quality of these films simply isn't good enough. “I think that if you're gonna make a film, it's gotta be a good film,” he said.

He then brought up the fact that The Hill, his latest film, is a faith-based story under the guise of an inspirational sports film. “We love The Hill because it's sports-based — it has faith elements, it [has] spiritual elements, but it's a great story. It's a story that people can connect to that people are gonna feel inspired by. I think ultimately that's what people wanna see when they watch a film. They want to feel inspired or moved in any way, one way or [another],” Ford said.

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That's how Ford believes all faith-based films should approach their project. The focus should be on quality over beating your viewers over the head with messages and motifs. “And I think that when you have [the] job of making a film or television show, that should be the focus. All the other stuff that comes into play, the faith, all that stuff that people are gonna take home, that's just a cherry on top,” Ford said.

“But you have to make [a] good product first,” he concluded.

Andrew Korpan · 6 days ago

Andrew Korpan · 6 days ago

Andrew Korpan · 6 days ago

Throughout his career, Colin Ford has done mainstream films like Captain Marvel and We Bought a Zoo, but he's also done films like The Hill. Earlier this year, he starred in A Thousand Tomorrows — a mini-series adaptation of Karen Kingsbury's book.

The Hill probably won't be the last faith-based film that Ford stars in. But expect him to hold his standard to the scripts he takes on. You have to imagine that if he's going to return to the genre, it has to be a high-quality film first, and a strong faith-based film second.

The Hill will be released on August 25.