Actor Jesse Metcalfe Calls This Movie ‘Miraculous’

Published: January 2, 2024

On A Wing and A Prayer poster courtesy of MMPA

Actor Jesse Metcalfe Calls This Movie ‘Miraculous’

By Movieguide® Contributor

Jesse Metcalfe was “very proud” to be a part of ON A WING AND A PRAYER.

“The script attracted me to the project,” he said of the movie, which also starred Dennis Quaid and Heather Graham, during an interview with Movieguide®. “I found the [character] to be very interesting, given that he had lost his father and his stepfather to plane crashes, and that this opportunity to help save the White family was a cathartic experience for him.”

ON A WING AND A PRAYER tells the true story of a family who has to fly a plane after their pilot dies. Metcalfe plays one of the many people who helped guide them to a safe landing.

A portion of the Movieguide® review reads:

ON A WING AND A PRAYER has a strong Christian, moral, wholesome worldview, with powerful scenes of prayer. Doug and his family consistently pray to God for safety and in gratitude as they think landing the plane is impossible. Despite everything going wrong, their faith helps them overcome their fear in this miraculous true story. ON A WING AND A PRAYER has some intense action, a few light obscenities and a scene where an air traffic controller gets drunk. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.

“It ended up being a healing journey for him,” the actor continued. “He was able to sort of exorcize the demons of his past through helping save the White family.”

Metcalfe also spoke about the faith elements of the movie.

“It’s a true story, and the people involved in this true story were people of faith, and it is a miraculous story, so [the faith] is just sort of baked in,” he explained.

Check out Movieguide®’s full interview below:

Roma Downey, a producer on the movie, spoke to the National Catholic Register about her involvement in the project.

“When ON A WING AND A PRAYER showed up on my desk, I read it eagerly, because it has thriller elements in it!” she said. “I have gone through struggles in my own life — as we all have — and I have witnessed firsthand in my life the power of prayer. And so I think the thing that most attracts me to this story is that, in the darkest of circumstances, when this family found themselves hurtling through the air with a dead pilot at the controls of the plane, they were reliant on God, handing their situation over to the good Lord.”

She told The Christian Post, “As Christians, it speaks to the power of prayer and the mercy of God.”