Actors Carlos and Alexa PenaVega have had successful careers in Hollywood, but the married couple has, in recent years, honed in on specific projects they believe have the power to change lives.
At the core of it all is their belief in God’s love for mankind.
“[Some] people view God as either transactional or just dead, like nonexistent,” Alexa recently told CBN News. “They don’t realize how embedded He is in your life, like from when you were in your womb … He loves you. He knew you. He knit you together.”
With that in mind, Alexa spoke about the importance of making content that comes “from a kingdom heart,” something that requires the right character development.
“I think the biggest thing is finding characters that … are broken, like all of us, but really have that redemption in the end,” she said. “And … it doesn’t have to be a faith-based movie.”
Listen to Alexa and Carlos PenaVega discuss their new movie, navigating loss, and their passion for telling transformative stories:
Ultimately, Alexa said movies and TV shows that show transformation in a person’s life are important to her and Carlos.
As far as faith-based movies themselves, Alexa said some of the people making these films tend not to be Christians — a claim that might surprise some.
“So, their idea of what they think is a faith-based movie, that’s why they look the way they do,” she said, noting some assumptions shown in these films about people of faith and how they live their lives don’t always translate to reality. “A lot of the actors aren’t really like faith-based or, if they are, it’s like very loose, very new.”
Alexa continued, “So, you get these movies that are made by people who don’t actually have a relationship with God. And that’s why they look the way that they do.”
The actress said she and Carlos are on a different mission, though, helping bridge these divides.
“We’re actually trying to bring together people — and not to say that we only want to work with, you know, Christian people, not at all — but when you are creating content with people who actually really know God, and talk to God, and understand God, the content is going to look very different,” she said.
These comments come as Alexa and Carlos co-star in Mr. Manhattan, a new movie on Great American Pure Flix. The film delivers a “heartwarming story about what it means to find joy after grief and give God control over every aspect of our lives.”
Watch “Mr. Manhattan” here.
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