Neal McDonough Says Playing the Devil in Upcoming Film Highlighted God's Goodness

Angel Studios summarized the film in a press release revealing that it is about "a man named Kevin who finds himself in a dystopian world [and is] confronted by a mysterious stranger known as 'The Benefactor' who presents him with challenges as he fights to shift realities and return to the woman he loves." Kevin is played by Kristoffer Polaha.

"Our Job — Kevin — will face off with the devil in a way that exposes his tricks and his lies by shining a light that cuts through all that darkness," an overview of the film posted to the film's funding page reads. "Kevin will be presented with concrete temptations most of us can relate to, and we'll see how his choices alter the world around him."

In a recent interview with The Christian Post, McDonough shared that the new film is "the first time" he's played the devil.

Although the actor initially had doubts about the role, his wife, South African model Ruve McDonough, convinced him to take on the challenge.

"I'm so grateful that she convinced me to do it because when you play characters like this, you learn so much about yourself and how blessed I am to have His (God's) backing in everything that I do, to have all the gifts that God's given me in my life. My amazing wife, five kids, the movies and TV shows, everything!"

"We all at times have a very mean person in us, all of us; we're all human," McDonough explained. "There was only one person who was perfect, and everyone else has been trying. And the harder you try, the more the devil will tempt you with stuff."

He noted that playing the devil gave him a new perspective.

"When I get to play a character like this, that's the devil, I got to learn so much about myself, about how blessed I really am in my life," he said.

"It's hard to explain what goes through your mind as a method actor when you play the devil. So I tried to make him as human as possible," he added.

McDonough said the film's creators made the devil a "spoiled little kid who didn't get that candy bar, and then by doing so, there's a moment at the end of the film where you see how crushed the devil is that he can't understand the love that [Kevin] has for God."

"You see, 'aw, that poor dude, he's all messed up.' We all have that every day," the actor continued. "We all have that 'poor guy, that guy's messed up.' But it's how you come back from it. It's how you dust yourself off after you do something that isn't really a great thing."

"When I get to play characters like this, it just makes me just delve into how horrible life can be at times, but how amazing life can be when you have a company like Angel Studios or if you have entertainment out there that actually has a place where you can talk about things and talk through these things and what you should do for kids or what you shouldn't do and where goodness can lead you," he said.

The Shift is expected to be released in theaters in January 2024.

Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Pascal Le Segretain/Staff

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.