LEGACY PEAK Star Lucas Black Talks Faith, Fatherhood: ‘We Have A Responsibility to Protect Our Children’s Innocence’
By Cooper Dowd, Movieguide® Staff Writer
You may recognize actor Lucas Black from his recurring role as Sean Boswell in the FAST & FURIOUS franchise. But in his new movie, Pure Flix’s LEGACY PEAK, Black said that his focus is on the importance of faith and fatherhood.
Black said he hopes that LEGACY PEAK will highlight the importance of a godly earthly father and the encouraging truth of our heavenly father.
A portion of Movieguide@’s review of the new faith-filled movie, directed by Aaron Burns, reads:
LEGACY PEAK is an adventure movie streaming on PureFlix. FAST & FURIOUS actor Lucas Black plays Jason, who wants to bond with his girlfriend’s two children before he proposes on Christmas Eve. He plans to fly the children, Ben and his older sister Sam, to their grandparents while his girlfriend finishes up work before the holidays. However, after going off-course, a flock of birds hits the plane, and Jason, Ben and Sam are stranded in the wild. Will they be able to band together and survive the dangers of the wilderness?
Despite Black’s passion for the message of LEGACY PEAK, he did not initially want to appear on screen again after taking time to rest and be with his family.
“It was really an answered prayer for us,” Black said of the role. “After I left NCIS New Orleans, in the fall of 2019, my wife and I decided to take a year off and really just connect with our Heavenly Father and with each other and just rest and travel the country with our family.”
In 2018, Black said that he and his wife, Maggie O’Brien, decided to homeschool their children. At a homeschool convention in Houston, Black met pastor Eric Ludy, who connected Black to LEGACY PEAK.
“I wasn’t really eager to get back in front of the camera,” Black explained. “But the whole time, during that transition, or during that rest period, we had been seeing a huge culture shift in our country, [we were] just asking God, ‘How can He use my platform to impact culture in a positive way? To really empower men, empower fathers, and empower the nuclear family.”
“My wife reads the script, and she comes back to me with tears in her eyes and says, ‘I don’t know why you wouldn’t do this.’ And so that’s kind of how God orchestrated the whole thing,” he added.
Black said that LEGACY PEAK also provides a Christian movie that would appeal to fathers in a specific way.
“I feel like there’s a need and people are really wanting good content that really speaks and highlights family values,” Black told Movieguide®. “This is a movie, it’s made for kids, but it’s one the whole family can really sit down and watch. What I want is for the men to really come away feeling empowered, and feeling like, ‘Hey, this story put us in a good light. It showed the masculine qualities that God has given us to provide and to protect the innocent.'”
“I think as fathers or parents, we have a responsibility to protect our children’s innocence, and that can be tough,” Black continued. “That can be tough these days.”
Black said that his three children, ages 11, 9, and 7, have already been exposed to the world’s definition of marriage, family, sex, and love; and it is up to their father and mother to teach them to view those things with a foundation in God’s word.
“I feel like all of my children, they know a lot more about the ‘why’ behind what we do way earlier than I did,” he said. “That’s kind of the culture we live in. As parents, we have really focused on being vocal and trying to teach our kids those things, what the Bible says, a biblical worldview a lot earlier, because we know that that is being attacked.”
“That has been attacked in our country, it’s been attacked in our culture, and so they’re gonna hear deceptive messages out there,” Black added. “We have to point them in the direction of truth at an earlier age. We can’t take that for granted.”
Black said that it is vital to have a strategy for approaching children in a purposeful and loving way.
“We have to come up with a strategy to do that and it has to be on the forefront of our mind,” he said. “I think we’ve had it so good for so long, that we’ve kind of become complacent [in] having a strategy to teach our kids the truth, the truth about God’s word, and just natural law. That’s why we are in the shape that we’re in today.
“My call, and part of doing this movie, is for men and fathers to really take on that responsibility,” he concluded. “Do not be passive in your approach. Be aggressive in teaching your children and pointing them to the truth in a loving way.”
Black said that his character in LEGACY PEAK, Jason, struggles with what it means to be a good father to his future children in the movie, Sam and Ben.
“It’s new territory for Jason,” Black said. “He really doesn’t know what it’s like to have a good father because he didn’t have that in his life. One thing I like about this story is that you see the importance of an earthly father with all of the characters and they range from very different ages.”
“Jason, he’s found fulfillment and felt love from his Heavenly Father. But you can see where he’s got that pain in his life that he missed having a good earthly father,” Black added. “I liked that about this story. It shows the importance of an earthly father, at several different ages in our life, doesn’t matter how old you are. We still want to have a good earthly father. It is admirable to see that he’s not taking the passive approach. He wants to be a good father to these children. He wants to love them and give them what he doesn’t have.”
Movieguide®’s review of LEGACY PEAK reads:
LEGACY PEAK is a well-shot, well-acted movie. Despite pacing issues, the movie’s intensity ramps up during the second half, and viewers will become more involved in the story and characters. LEGACY PEAK has a strong Christian, moral worldview. It champions God, prayer, faith, Scripture, and fatherhood. On several occasions, Jason relies on strength from God to keep the children safe.
Check out Movieguide®’s full review of LEGACY PEAK at Movieguide.org.
You can watch LEGACY PEAK exclusively on Pure Flix.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
