Kirk Cameron Interview

by Tracy & C.J. Darlington

"...don’t be afraid to be involved in an industry that is powerful and influential. "
-- Kirk Cameron

Kirk Cameron is perhaps best known for his role as Mike Seaver in the 80's tv show Growing Pains or his role as Buck Williams in the popular Left Behind series of films.

Recently he's released an autobiography (Still Growing), and starred in the Sherwood Pictures film Fireproof.

Kirk sat down and talked to us about his involvement in Fireproof, the movie industry, and the sanctity of marriage.

C.J. & Tracy What was the most memorable experience you had working on Fireproof?

The most memorable experience for me was the group of people who put the movie together, the same guys who did the movie Facing the Giants.

Fireproof is a movie made by a church in Albany, GA, and it consisted of about 1200 volunteers. These are people who were making a movie on a shoestring budget, donating their time and their hard work because they really believe in marriage and want to save marriages and impact people’s lives. And when you’re with those kinds of people and part of a project like this it makes you feel great, and you know you’re really doing something that counts.

What scene is your favorite in the film?

That’s hard to say. There are scenes that were particularly challenging and I think were very important scenes. Like some of the early fighting scenes in the beginning of the movie. They set the tone for the reality of what a lot of people are going through in their marriage.

And then I would say probably one of my favorite scenes was what I hope people can get to, and I hope guys in particular will get to, is what we call the apology scene. Where Caleb finally has things right between him and the Lord and he goes to his wife and says, “Listen, I need to apologize and tell you some things. Whether you decide to continue staying married to me or not I just need you to know I love you. I’ve done some things that are wrong and I’m asking you to forgive me. I want to do the right thing from here on out. Whatever you decide to do I just wanna continue to be the right guy and keep my promises to you and the Lord.”

Back when we talked to Stephen Kendrick when the movie first came out he mentioned they played some fun pranks on you...

Oh, yeah. Lots of those!

And that you might’ve played some on them?

You can see most of them on the DVD. The bonus features have all of the deleted scenes along with the practical jokes and pranks. The one that we played on the director Alex Kendrick was at the very last scene, the last shooting day. Everything was finished, and we were standing in a fire station. Alex was right at the base of the fire pole. And while he was smiling after a job well done, the guys at the top of the pole dumped some buckets of ice cold water down the shoot and drenched him. I don’t know if they got that on camera!

If you could share one thing to Christians about the movie industry they might not know, what would it be?

While many people look at Hollywood as “The Beast” and “The Tool of Satan” to get lots of garbage pumped into the minds of the culture. While that can be true, it’s also a powerful tool to get some great messages out like what’s contained in Fireproof, The Passion of the Christ and other good movies. I would say don’t be afraid to be involved in an industry that is powerful and influential. Because if you can grab a hold of the helm of a movie or something like that you can really be used as a powerful influence for good.

Watch the Fireproof movie trailer:
Watch the teaser trailer for Fireproof!
(Click here for the Quicktime version)

C.J. Darlington's first novel, Thicker Than Blood, was the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest. It's just released from Tyndale House, and you can watch the trailer today! When she's not writing, she's reading. Her hobbies include book and art collecting, fly fishing, painting and drawing. Visit her online at her author website and at her blog where she talks about books, writing, and publishing. You can also look her up at Twitter and Facebook.

Tracy Darlington is a freelance writer, and her work has appeared in Brio, Breakaway, YS, CCM Magazine, Insight, Susie Magazine, and other publications. She has interviewed countless Christian musicians including Rebecca St. James, Delirious, Newsboys, Leigh Nash, Barlowgirl, Krystal Meyers, Joy Williams, Pillar, Michelle Tumes, and many others. In her spare time she can be found listening to music and sipping a Venti 3-shot sugar-free vanilla latte. Visit her online at her blog where she talks about Music, God, dogs and coffee. You can also look her up at Twitter and Facebook.