Candace Cameron Bure, Andy Erwin Share Details of FOR KING & COUNTRY Origin Story
By Movieguide® Contributor
Andy Erwin is starting a podcast, and one of his first guests was Candace Cameron Bure. The two talked about UNSUNG HERO, their recent project together.
“You and I produced a movie with Kingdom and Lionsgate that’s coming out in April and you also act in it,” Erwin said. “It was really kind of a treat to collaborate with you. We really loved and respected your brand for a long time, and…both of us fell in love with the script at the same time and both of us love for KING + COUNTRY.”
UNSUNG HERO “follows David Smallbone as he moves his family from Down Under to the States, searching for a brighter future after his successful music company collapses,” PEOPLE reported. “With nothing more than their seven children, suitcases, and their love of music, David and his pregnant wife Helen (Daisy Betts) set out to rebuild their lives.”
When Luke and Joel Smallbone contacted Erwin and Bure about their idea for a movie about their family, they were nervous about accepting the project. However, after reading the script, they were both extremely impressed and wanted to join the project to help in any way they could.
“They came to the U.S., they immigrated from Australia, and then they lost everything…” Erwin explained. “And their father was this music promoter and had kind of lost the vision of what family was supposed to be. He thought they were in the way. It was his wife, Helen, that was the unsung hero of the family that kind of kept the family together… They ended up having seven kids, and she kind of reminded her husband that his family was the way, and so it’s a stellar movie.”
“The film is truly amazing, it truly is,” Bure added. “I’ve seen it, obviously, a few times now, and I’m so proud of it. I talked with Joel and Luke before about the project, and they were like, ‘Hey, we’d love to send this to you and see if you want to collaborate on it,’ And it’s always a little bit scary when it’s coming from friends because you’re like, oh man, if I don’t like this, this is kind of awkward.’”
“They sent me the script, and I read it without expectation. I just wanted to read it with fresh eyes and see if it was, you know – let them have my honest opinion and if it was good or bad and if it was something that I wanted to be a part of,” Bure continued. “Man, I devoured that script. I really did. I devoured it, and I was like, ‘Yes. Yes, you guys need to make this. Yes, I would love to be a part of it, whether it is as a producer’ – and then it was like, well, there’s and acting part, so I was like, yeah, bonus.”
The movie focuses on the importance of family.
“It’s stellar and it truly is all about family and it’s going through all the hard times, sticking together, coming out through it, I mean, they did and amazing job. But it’s really about seeing the journey and what families can go through but also accomplish together and especially within marriage when you’re always refining one another, husband and wife, that’s what marriage is all about,” Bure added.
UNSUNG HERO hits theaters on April 26 and stars Joel Smallbone, Daisy Betts, Kirrilee Berger, Jonathan Jackson, Lucas Black, Bure, Terry O’Quinn and Lady A’s Hillary Scott.
“It dawned on us about 4 years ago that this story of immigrating from Australia to America & all the adventures & challenges we’ve walked through in between was a story that needed to be told- so we made a movie,” for KING + COUNTRY posted on Instagram.
“It’s our hope that this story encourages you & your family as working on this project & reflecting has encouraged ours,” the group added.
Movieguide® previously reported:
A trailer for UNSUNG HERO just dropped, giving fans a glimpse into For King + Country’s Joel and Luke Smallbone and their sister Rebecca St. James’ road to faith and fame.
“Joel, 39, stars in the movie as his own father David Smallbone, who moves to Nashville in 1991 with his seven children and wife [Helen] (Daisy Betts). As the family struggles to establish themselves in a new country, their daughter Rebecca St. James begins receiving attention for her impressive singing ability,” PEOPLE reported.
The trailer shows the family’s struggles to fit into their new life in America, both culturally and financially. Amid the struggles, David and Helen begin to notice their kids’ talents.
