Sam Sorbo's Journey in Hollywood and Faith

Could you tell us a bit about your career as an actress? How did you enter the film industry?

I began my professional life as a model in Europe, primarily Paris. It was a fantastic introduction to the world, foreign language, and earning money, and I was very successful at it. All my educational life I’d been told I couldn’t become an actor because nobody succeeded at that. So, when I reached basic financial independence and realized that the “experts” of the academic world were wrong, I figured I might as well try the thing I really loved – acting. So I moved to LA and started to act. I did several movies and TV shows and found my way onto “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” starring Kevin Sorbo and fell in love with him.

It’s truly a very romantic story, about how we met and our first scene, on the drawbridge, at night, with the mist wafting up and the enormous glowing lights breathing down on us, me in my princess gown with a long flowing wig, and Kevin dressed as the hero in his Hercules garb. It was a kissing scene goodbye, our first scene together, and Kevin kept forgetting his lines! I thought he was playing some kind of practical joke because he was laughing at himself, but I also figured he was really unprofessional (outrageous!)

That was the first time he kissed me no one else has kissed me since!

Did you meet Kevin on Hercules? How was it to work alongside him?

Initially, working with Kevin was terribly distracting, although it was also a lot of fun! He was a jokester on set – loved to laugh – and he really was the consummate professional (making that first encounter even funnier.) I loved to watch him work. He would do all of his own fight scenes and learned them like a choreographed dance. Being severely uncoordinated, I was in awe of how smoothly he moved, and just adored watching the stunt guys fake the hits!

Now we produce movies together (and books and other things, like children!) and we really enjoy it. We are very much alike, except he sees in big picture, and I see in detail, so we also complement each other, too. I produce and he directs, which means I’m his boss on set, kind of, but I also act, so that makes him my boss, too… it’s complicated, but it works for us!

Let’s talk about Miracle in East Texas? Can you tell us a bit about the film?

Miracle in East Texas is a tall tale inspired by an absolutely true story! It’s the story of the East Texas Oil strike, the largest of its kind! But we tell it as a comedy, because the characters involved in this were all basically larger than life. It’s a lot of fun, and the movie has won a diverse assortment of awards at film festivals: Best Romantic Comedy, Best Family Film, Best Drama, Best Director, even Best Actor! Mainly, I hope people leave the theater with the theme of redemption in their subconscious. Every sinner has a future, and every saint has a past, as they say. Hope is available to all.

Have you ever experienced any type of rejection in the film industry for acting in movies with Christian themes?

Kevin has dealt with that more than I have. His manager and agent separately called him in and fired him after he had become somewhat more vocal about his beliefs. He says he’s like a “double leper” being Christian and Conservative. But seriously, the folks in Hollywood and the media that just came out as supportive of child sex trafficking have given all of us a lot to question about their choices.

I stopped acting when he got sick, during Hercules, right before we were wed. He needed someone to look after him (he almost died!) so I stopped acting to be with him. It was a clear choice and I’m so glad I made it and am not sitting here with a far-reaching career and no family life!

Do you think there’s prejudice against Christians in Hollywood? Why?

Absolutely there is prejudice in Hollywood against Christians and Christianity. People are lost in their sin, and they hate anything that exposes them, like Christian ethics and morals do, even if they don’t understand them. I’m not convinced they know why they dislike it, except that it is different from them, holds a distinct view on right and wrong, and they want freedom to do whatever they want, despite often knowing it is wrong.

Have you ever wanted the bowl of ice cream at 10:30 at night, and you knew it was wrong – you didn’t really need the extra calories and the sugar wasn’t a healthy choice – but you just suspended judgement long enough to eat it, enjoy it, and then regret it?

I think a lot of them live in that regret-cycle but deny it, by self-soothing with other bad behavior, none of which is condoned by Christianity.

This of course doesn’t apply to everyone. Some just don’t know any better and have been raised in the government schools to disdain Christianity out of habit, as well as other religions. Let’s face it, Christianity doesn’t have a lock on religious persecution, although these days it seems we are very much in the lead. But that’s more because it is the founders’ religion and frankly, what made this nation the most productive, most prosperous venture the world has ever seen in history, a blessing on the entire world and on that is unlikely to ever see again.

Were you born into a Christian home?

I was raised in an atheist home as a Jew, but we celebrated Christmas (Santa Claus) and Easter (the Bunny!) I quit the synagogue’s Saturday school at age 12, declaring I was an atheist. I went on a search during my early 20s for meaning in the universe and I found order, which indicated to me there was an order-maker, a creator, and that sent me into houses of worship to find Him. I found Him at church – or He met me there.

What do you hope people take away from Miracle in East Texas?

I hope with my movie to breathe a little bit of the essence of the virtues back into the culture. Forgiveness is a theme of the movie and seeing the redemptive elements, I hope, will remind viewers we all need forgiveness, and if we offer it, we set ourselves free, both from shame and from oppression of unforgiveness. We live in a very unforgiving culture – called cancel culture. This is a disaster, and we need to turn it around, now. That’s really why I want folks to see the movie.

We developed a homeschool-type resource, free, for parents to ’try on’ what it really is to homeschool your kids. We make so much of school being education, but it isn’t. School is tremendously damaging to kids. Education should be fun, so that’s what this film’s homeschool packet is – fun for both the parents and the children. It’s just another way to give back, for me. I want families reunited and strengthened. Home education is the best way to accomplish that.

See Miracle in East Texas in theaters October 29 & 30!

You can experience the award-winning family comedy 'Miracle in East Texas,' based on a true story!  Starring Kevin Sorbo, John Ratzenberger, Louis Gossett Jr., Tyler Mane, and Sam Sorbo, “Miracle” is set during the Great Depression and follows two con-men who convince widows to invest in worthless oil wells. Watch as their scheme unravels, and an unexpected miracle unfolds!  Catch this heartwarming tale exclusively in select theaters on October 29 & 30th.  

For more information, the free resources mentioned above, and to buy tickets or gift tickets to others, visit https://www.sorbostudios.com/miracle-in-east-texas.