Imagine leaving your country with no money and very few possessions only to reach a foreign land and realize the job prospects you were expecting had evaporated.
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That’s the exact situation the Smallbone family encountered when they left their native Australia and arrived in America. The large family had little more than love, yet somehow survived — and thrived.
Today, audiences know the Smallbones as famous singers. Joel and Luke Smallbone of for KING & COUNTRY and their sister, Rebecca St. James, have become faith-based household names.
A Harrowing Journey
But what some might not know is the harrowing journey the family experienced — a story set to be told on the big screen in “Unsung Hero,” a feature film releasing in theaters nationwide on April 26.
Joel Smallbone told CBN News during a recent interview at the National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, that the idea for the film came from his brother and bandmate, Luke.
“He had been sharing, as part of … a child sponsorship pitch, our family story,” he said. “And people come and say, ‘Hey, you know, it’s such a moving, miraculous story. You should write a book about it.'”
While they opted not to write a book, the idea for a feature film was born.
“We spent two years on the screenplay,” Smallbone, who portrays his father, David, in the movie, said. “I was actually probably more keen to play that than I was to be involved on the other side of the camera, the directing, the co-directing.”
Smallbone did step in to co-direct the movie, having the unique perspective of both playing his dad and helping craft the massive, real-life story into a movie-sized bite.
“We wanted it to be an honor project, but not a glory project,” Smallbone said. “And there’s a big difference. We’re not trying to glorify them. We’re trying to honor the hardship, and, from dad’s perspective… the humbling, the pride, and everything in between.”
Ultimately, Smallbone said playing his father was “liberating” and gave him empathy for his dad — a compassion he’ll have for the rest of his life.
More Than a Rags to Riches Story
Smallbone said “Unsung Hero” provides more than a rags-to-riches story; instead, it shows how “hardship, and loss, and sacrifice” can help us understand our ascent in faith.
It offers a lens into a family forced to humble themselves and work diligently to build new lives in America.
“As Christians, we so love the ascent of faith, but we want to skip the reality that, if you don’t actually have hardship, and loss, and sacrifice, you don’t understand the ascent,” Smallbone said. “And I feel like, in a day and age [when] we see so many people at points, myself included, ascend, but not engage with hardship at the same time … you lose yourself in it.”
He continued, “I think that’s the ‘gain the world and lose your soul.'”
The Smallbone had to rake leaves, mow lawns, and clean houses to get by — truly humble beginnings that enabled the family to get back on its feet and eventually launch into stardom.
“It gave me something, and Luke something, and the whole family, something that I think, in the ascent, this is a preposterous pinch yourself moment where you look around and go, ‘Hang on, we’re making feature-length films. Hang on. We get to perform in arenas and stadiums.'”
This reality, he said, gives a “grounding” and a recognition that all of it is “bigger” than them.
The Hope for ‘Unsung Hero’
Smallbone said he hopes “Unsung Hero” will inspire people to love their families and focus on the relationships that matter most.
“This is a very family-forward film,” he said. “This is also a film about moms. It’s a film about daughters. I love that it’s women-forward as well.”
One of the most interesting facets of the movie’s release — April 26 — is that it happens to fall on his parents’ 49th wedding anniversary, something he said was unplanned.
“Lionsgate picks the date,” Smallbone said. “And I didn’t even clock it, and I called mom a week later. I was like, ‘Hey, they picked the date — April 26th.’ She goes, ‘Oh, you know, that’s our 49th wedding anniversary.'”
Yet another powerful — yet unintended and perhaps providential — way Smallbone will honor his parents. Find out more about “Unsung Hero” here.
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