Max Ehrich Talks New Faith Film Southern Gospel: I Want to Use the 'Gifts That God Has Given Me'

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michael Foust: Hey, Max, thanks so much for joining us today. The film is Southern Gospel. It hits theaters on March 10. It's raw. It's inspirational. It's powerful. Max, great job with it. It's based on the true story of rock and roll star Samuel Allen, who is faced with tragedy and is given a second chance in life. Why did you want to be involved in this film? What attracted you to this project?

Max Ehrich: The first thing was the music component. I've been playing piano since I was four years old, so that was the first thing I was drawn to as a kid. And I've always had this fantasy of being a rock and roll star in the 70s, but without the negative connotations around it. But I loved this movie from the moment I read it because I felt like it was such a dark time when I read it – I received it during the pandemic – and I knew that a film like this was so needed. It's a film that has morals and spreads a lot of light, and I have a mission, personally, for kids to really have sort of good guidance, in a way. And I feel like this film, without being too much of like a DARE episode, definitely does explore a lot of things like that. I would like to be a good influence. I feel like this will be a good influence on society. It touched my heart the moment I read it. I cried when I read the script. I really fought hard for this role because I knew deep in my soul I was so drawn to it.

Foust: And not to give away too much, but you get to do not just 60s Rock, but 70s Rock and a little bit of 80s music as well. That was kind of fun to watch that progression of music genres in the film. I'm curious, was your own personal faith impacted by this movie? I mean, did the movie, kind of, in a reverse way, impact you?

Ehrich: Deeply. I mean, I feel like in preparing for this role, I really was studying the Bible so much, and it really deepened my faith intensely to the point that when the character got baptized, I actually, in real life, decided to get baptized by Pastor Jeffrey Smith, who directed the film. So that's how deeply it impacted me. Now, I think that this movie has never left me in a sense. I feel like my character and my faith will never be where it was before. I feel like it's so much stronger now that I've done this film and that I get to carry it out with my art and be able to spread not only my faith but also the gifts that God has given me.

Foust: Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, I saw a video online – of course, this was filmed during the pandemic – and there's a video online of a gentleman, I think that's the pastor you're talking about, he's wearing a mask, and he's baptizing you in a lake or creek or something.

Ehrich: Yeah, and that was real. That wasn't a part of the film. That was real and was an incredible, incredible day for me.

Foust: Amazing. Well, what are the messages for the audience that you want people to take away from this? There are a lot of themes and a lot of positive messages. Is there anything specifically that you want people to take away here?

Ehrich: Yeah, you know, the logline for the film is "Never surrendered the dream," and I feel like there are so many obstacles that we face in life, and it's, it's really important, and this film really touches upon the need to lose the judgment of any wrong paths we may have taken, any mistakes. We are all sinners, and we're all doing our best, and we all deserve redemption in a sense. I think a huge theme of this film is, is also exploring the need to not necessarily feel so… go into a sense of self-destruction or self-hatred because of mistakes or temptations that we may fall into. It's really about forgiveness and grace. It's really about the grace of God.

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Photo courtesy: ©SWN Design, Getty Images/David Livingston/Stringer

Music courtesy: ©Soundstripe Library, used with permission.