‘What If…’: Kevin Sorbo’s Dallas Jenkins Movie Is Back

Kevin Sorbo’s life and career took a turn into a new direction, but it didn’t start when some folks think it did. Indeed, one wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t done a 2010 film called What If….

When Sorbo starred in the film, he was coming off, among other things, two successful syndicated series — the fantasy drama Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, produced by Sam Raimi, and the sci-fi series Andromeda, produced by a division of Tribune Company, my former employer — and a starring role in the fantasy film Kull the Conqueror.

In 2014, Sorbo did the commercially successful faith-based drama God’s Not Dead, and began to become known for doing Christian films — but it wasn’t the first one he’d done.

Kevin Sorbo Charted a New Course in What If…

Co-written by Chuck Konzelman (God’s Not Dead, Unplanned, Nefarious), What If… was directed by a guy named Dallas Jenkins, an up-and-coming filmmaker not really known by mainstream entertainment.

Now showbiz knows who he is, since Jenkins is the creator, co-writer and director of the mega-hit Gospels-based series The Chosen. As often happens in entertainment when someone achieves success, there’s a look back into their earlier work to see what may be eligible for a resurrection.

Having remained popular, What If… celebrates its 15th anniversary on Aug. 5 and 7, returning to theaters as a Fathom Event.

Sorbo read the script, loved it, and accepted Screen Actors Guild scale payment to shoot the story of Ben Walker, a successful businessman who abandoned his faith on the way up the corporate ladder. A truck-driving angel (John Ratzenberger) shows up and lets Ben see what his life would have been, had he married his high-school sweetheart (Kristy Swanson) and become a pastor.

Talking to Kevin Sorbo

Recently, I got to chat with Sorbo — whom I met long before What If…, on the set of Andromeda (and here’s the story) — about the film and the turn it represented in his career.

The whole interview is below, but here are some excerpts.

On getting the call from Jenkins:

But he calls me up a couple, about six months, ago and said, “You know what? We rewatch this show, What If…, my kids, it’s their favorite movie of everything I’ve done. They like it more than The Chosen.” And I said, “I’ve always loved it.” Dallas, he wants to make a TV series out of it, which, who knows? …

But when they decided to re-release it, I said, “This is Heaven-sent. I’ve always wanted people to see his movie. This is a chance now for you to get the opportunity that it deserved.”

On evangelization through entertainment:

Keep doing movies. Don’t preach to people. That’s the biggest thing that turns ’em off. They get negative about it right away.

And if you’re a person of faith and say, “Hey, you want to come to my church?” “There’s church people there. I don’t want to go there.” But to say, “Hey, you want to go see a movie?” It’s a different thing.

I had a screening of What If… at my house and I invited some friends over. They’re friends, and they’re agnostic and atheist — not going to name names, because a couple of ’em are pretty well-known actors and you’ll know who they are, but I’m not going to name ’em.

And they said after the movie, they went, “That’s a really good movie. I’m not a Christian, but that’s just a good movie.”

On What If… says to audiences:

And I hope they take the time to go look at a movie like What If…, it shows that there is redemption no matter how bad you are or how much you have anger and hate and just blackness in your heart, that there is light at the end of that tunnel.

You just have to want to look in the mirror and go, “OK, I’m going to open up a little bit and see if there’s something else out there.” Instead of just being filled with all this anger and hate every day.

On the message that there’s hope even if you’re not a “perfect Christian”:

I’m not a perfect person in any way, trust me. And I have to ask for forgiveness every bloody day. But that’s why Jesus came here to save our souls. And I’ve always been a Christian. I’ve never been not a perfect one.

…

OK, so I don’t want to just preach to the choir. I want the choir to support my movies, but I’m going to touch those out there that are hurting, people out there that have hate and anger in their lives.

People out there that have … we all have problems, but you’re not going to please everybody. And I had a guy tell me one time, he goes, “You better screw up. You better never, never screw up.” “I screw up.” He goes, “Well, then, the Christians never forgive you.”

And that made me sad. because I know there are people like that world.

Show me a perfect Christian. for crying out loud. So it’s like, give me a break with this attitude that if I screw up, they’ll never let you back in their club.

Take a look: