Actor Describes How God Intervenes in His Roles

Published: January 4, 2024

Actor Describes How God Intervenes in His Roles

By Movieguide® Contributor

Actor Colin Ford told Movieguide® what drew him to the movie THE HILL and how he’s seen God’s presence throughout his acting career.

“I think the draw for me off the top was the true aspect [of the story],” Ford said. “Just having been a baseball fan in my youth, Braves fan and Dodgers fan after the move to Los Angeles. That baseball element was very cool, but I think more than that was after discovering who Rickey was and the adversity that he faced and all the things he struggled with. It was just a no-brainer for me. I was like, how can I be a part of this; I would love to get to play Ricky.”

Part of Movieguide®’s review reads:

THE HILL tells the inspiring true story of Rickey Hill, a boy with a spinal disease whose dream is to play Major League Baseball. Despite having to wear leg braces during his childhood, and his father’s strong desire for him to become a pastor, Rickey perseveres. Though he can’t run, Rickey spends hours every day hitting small rocks with a stick in the farmland of Texas. When his family is forced to move with nothing but the clothes on their back, Rickey starts to play real baseball. This sparks in him a fire and a passion for the sport.

THE HILL draws inspiration from the real story of Ricky Hill. He was born without disks in his back but was still determined to make it big in baseball.

“There is no such thing as no in my book,” Hill told The Athletic. “I hope (people watching this) take the fact that even though they told me my disease was going to end me, I wasn’t going to accept that. I said I’m not accepting no, and I didn’t. I said I would play (pro ball) until every tire went flat.”

Hill’s undying confidence in himself also drew Ford to the project. No matter the obstacle, he found a way to overcome it, something that Ford believes all Christians should strive for.

“[For] Ricky, it can seem like one thing after another, he’ll overcome one mountain and then there’s another, you know, hill behind it that he’s got to climb. But again, it’s that support system that he has. It’s Gracie, it’s mom, it’s, you know, siblings, they all support him in order to achieve what he needs to do,” Ford said. “He wouldn’t be able to do it alone. I don’t think anybody could, but again, it’s his inherent belief that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m gonna step up to the plate and I’m not gonna let anything stop me.”

“It’s ultimately when he gets cut from baseball tryouts he goes back, and he doesn’t take no for an answer. I think, you know, at some point, you can have faith in anything. I always say you have faith, but sometimes you also have to be your own best advocate,” he continued. “So I think that’s a big game as well. No one’s going to advocate better for you than yourself.”

“Ricky took his greatest weakness and turned it into a strength,” Ford added. “You know, years and years of honing in on that hitting skill when he couldn’t run around the bases, let alone walk, you know, prepared him to be the hitter that he needed to be eventually at this fateful tryout against Fred Murph to become a professional baseball player. So I think that’s in scripture. It’s like, you know, God makes us strong through our weaknesses, and I think that’s exactly what God did through Ricky.”

Ford is thankful for the opportunity to share faith-based stories like this one. For this reason, he feels that it is his calling to be an actor. However, that does not mean he hasn’t had doubts about working in the entertainment industry. God, however, has shown up in Ford’s life and revealed that this is his calling.

“There’s been a few points in a period of time in my life where I’ve questioned [if I should be acting]. Ironically, before I got A THOUSAND TOMORROW, I was in bed. I had been a little discouraged on some meetings that had been going on and was just, you know, praying to God and wondering if this is the right thing for me,” Ford explained. “Literally the next morning, I woke up to an email with the script of A THOUSAND TOMORROWS and the offer in my inbox. I was like, this is it. There’s my answer right there. I literally prayed the night before as I was going to sleep. Put my phone away and woke up the next morning, next time I looked at my phone, and I had a gig essentially.”

“So, I mean, that right there was kind of a message so I just feel like I have little times in my life for the power of prayer and like, you know, I hear God’s response in one way or the other. So that’s how I know,” he added.

Check out Movieguide®’s full interview with Ford here:

Movieguide® previously reported:

WE BOUGHT A ZOO actor Colin Ford recently opened up about his faith and what it means to truly follow God.

“Philippians 4:13 is one of my favorite verses—I can do all things through Christ who strengthens us,” he told Christian Headlines. “For me, those are like my power words. Whenever I’m feeling anxious or down…I say those words to myself, and I remind myself that God is with me at all times.”

That verse encouraged Ford when he auditioned for his newest project, THE HILL, after he saw that it was quoted in the script.

“I already had that verse in my bio before I read the script,” Ford said of the audition.

“And it was kind of that moment, where I was like, ‘This is me. This movie is me. I have to be Ricky, I have to do it. There’s nothing that’s gonna stop me from doing this film.’… I just felt very convicted by that verse. I felt very fortunate and divine, like there’s some sort of divine intervention happening. It was meant to be.”