The power of film.
Kevin James has been at the center of some very big movies himself. Hitch, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and Grown Ups have all featured the comedic actor and are now considered comedy classics. Obviously, he’s most known for his role in the sitcom King of Queens, but he’s had plenty of other iconic roles throughout the years that have brought laughs to the masses.
He knows just as well as anybody else how powerful movies and TV shows can be, and according to an old interview from the early 2000s, James can connect a pivotal moment in his life to sitting in a movie theater and being moved by what was on the big screen. Specifically, the movie star remembered a time where he got direction from his father to make sure and respect “Good Friday” while he was in New York City.
James says he was in the Big Apple filming the 2005 film Hitch when he was given some advice from his dad, who was always a practicing Catholic (up until his death in 2006). The actor was going to go out on the town, but spoke with his father, who said that he should change things up and keep the sacred day in mind:
“My father was a very devout Catholic, and I grew up Catholic and going to church all the time and grew up and had faith in God. But I never really connected enough. I remember him always telling me… I was shooting ‘Hitch’ in New York in 2004 and I remember him saying it was Good Friday, and to tone down the partying.
(He said), ‘Remember, this is the day our Lord died’ and explaining it to me. I was by myself in New York, and I saw that ‘The Passion of the Christ’ was playing. I said, ‘Dad, can I go to the movies to the movies an see The Passion of the Christ?’ He goes, ‘Absolutely. You can go see that.'”
So Kevin James passed on the partying and decided to connect with the Lord, and that part of himself that used to be more involved with church, by going to see the Mel Gibson-directed film, which was in theaters at the time.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know just how intense it is, but as he explains it, the somewhat impromptu decision inspired by his father’s guidance ended up becoming a monumental moment in his life and in his faith journey:
“I went and saw ‘The Passion of the Christ’ by myself. Grabbed a popcorn, sat down in front, and I was completely moved by it. It really just blew me away. It was life changing. It’s one of those little shifts that happened where you continually try to better yourself and become the best version of yourself. That was a big one, for sure.”
Kevin James has been a devout, practicing Catholic – who shares about his faith any chance he gets – ever since.
Funny that such a seemingly small decision can help to open up a part of you for the rest of your life, but that’s exactly what happened to Kevin James. And it was through the movie depicting Jesus’ life and death that the actor was moved to give attention to his relationship with God once more.
And speaking of attention, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Kevin James is going viral in the modern day because people have found out that he’s moonlighting as an art teacher online. I’m sure you’ve heard of “Matt Taylor” by now, but just in case you haven’t, here’s one of the latest examples of Taylor’s (Kevin James acting as an art teacher) posts:
Rumor is that James has a movie on the horizon where he stars as an art teacher in a romantic comedy called Solo Mio, and that’s why he’s been doing this online. And hey, it’s working big time. Hundreds of thousands of people have followed the account, and patiently await new updates from the comedian-turned-art-teacher.
