Fans of the faith-based film genre who also enjoy superhero movies saw a familiar face on the big screen toward the end of the new blockbuster hit Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
Karen Abercrombie, the Christian actress who starred in such popular faith-based titles as 2015’s War Room and the 2023 movie Heaven Sent (now on home video), portrays Grandma Quill in the final minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Grandma Quill is the wife of Grandpa Quill, the grandfather of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt).
“It was an honor,” Abercrombie told Christian Headlines.
Abercrombie landed the role after an audition.
“One of my agents reached out to me ... and asked if I would be interested,” she told Christian Headlines. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And then I did the audition. And we started communicating with Marvel [the studio]. And then everything went quiet. And then I got another email – ‘We're going to start taping in Atlanta.’”
Having a part in a major Marvel film was an “opportunity to be there and be light and just love on people and use the gifts I've been given,” she said.
Abercrombie believes “God is going to start taking back territory” – territory “from darkness – all of entertainment, all of the media.”
“It's an opportunity to be what we profess to be. Even if you're not running, grabbing people, taking them to the back and trying to save them or share the message of Christ, we can do that in how we respond,” she said.
The rom-com Heaven Sent is one of Abercrombie’s newest faith-based projects. She portrays a single grandmother who finds romance.
“It's just a really fun story,” she said. “And I wanted it to be a message that would encourage, in particular, older people who are now single, as well as older people who are now raising their grandchildren. … It's about finding love a second time around.”
Abercrombie, who also starred in An Angelic Christmas, Discarded Things and Hope Lives, said she views her talents as a gift from God.
“It is a ministry to me,” she said of acting. “My gifts as well as my life [are] God-given, and so, to the best of my ability, I want to use the gifts that He's given me in a way that would honor the Giver, as well as in excellence. I may be saying someone else's words, but while I'm doing it and trying to do it in excellence, it's a form of praise.”
Photo courtesy: ©Mill Creek, used with permission.
Video courtesy: ©Pure Flix
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.