The Faith of John Corbett, Newcomer in the GOD’S NOT DEAD Film Series
By Ben Kayser, Managing Editor
Some know him as the overwhelmed fiancé Ian Miller in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, others may recognize him from the 110 episodes of the comedy series NORTHERN EXPOSURE. John Corbett has stared in over 30 movies and a number of successful TV shows. In 2017, Corbett starred in his first faith-based movie ALL SAINTS as Reverend Michael Spurlock, which he won a Grace Award for at the 26th Annual Movieguide® Awards. His next starring role is in the movie GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS, the third movie in the GOD’S NOT DEAD film series, where he plays a successful lawyer and the brother of Reverend Dave (David A.R. White).
John Corbett grew up going to Catholic school, but in an interview in 2004, he admitted that he never read the bible in all 12 years of Catholic school. “I read the Bible for the first time when I accepted the Lord in 1986,” Corbett said, “when I was about 25 or 26.” From there, Corbett ended up at a non-denominational church. He said the pastor “wasn’t wearing anything fancy…he was just sort of interpreting the Bible, and I liked that.” He also added that his favorite book of the Bible was Revelation.
Decades later and Corbett still identifies as a Christian, but he says he didn’t choose to star in faith-based movies like ALL SAINTS or GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS because of the Christian message, but instead found the scripts to be really compelling drama’s. In an interview with Movieguide®, Corbett recalled how he chose to star in the newest GOD’S NOT DEAD movie, “A movie like this is not a big budget movie, which means everyone is working on it because they like the flick. So sometimes [a script like that] won’t even make it to me [because usually scripts are screened by agents and managers first]. So, Brian [Corbett’s friend] was hoping I gave [the script] a legitimate read, and I read it and really, really liked it. They give you the pre-requisite that it’s a Christian movie, so before you open it, you already have all these ideas as to what it’s going to be like, and for me, it was a straight-ahead drama. I closed it and called Brian and said, ‘Tell them I’m in.’”
John Corbett’s movie appearance is in GOD’S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN DARKNESS, which releases March 30th nationwide. You can also see him in the TV special Movieguide®’s Transformational Movies which airs April 1st at 4 PM (EST) on the ReelzChannel.
