How a Tale of ‘What If’ Led Actor Kevin Sorbo on His Own Righteous Path

When actor/director Kevin Sorbo, who achieved international fame for his role as Hercules in the 1995–1999 TV series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” read the script for “What If,” he was determined to play the lead character Ben Walker in the heartfelt family film released in 2010.

Luckily, Sorbo had an in with the film’s director, Dallas Jenkins, who has since gone on to his own stardom as a writer, director, and producer of faith-based productions like “Hometown Legend” and “The Chosen.”

“We knew each other,” Sorbo said in a recent interview with The Epoch Times. “His wife and my wife hit it off and their kids were the same age group as my kids were. He gave me a script. He wanted my thoughts on it. I loved it, called him up and I said, ‘Hey, who’s playing Pastor Ben?’ He starts listing a few actors. ‘I’m playing him.’ He said, ‘Kevin, I can’t afford you.’ I said, ‘Well, what’s the budget?’ He goes, ‘It’s ultra low budget.’ I said, ‘I don’t care, pay me what that is. I need this role. I love it.’”

Sorbo has no regrets about taking that pay cut for the uplifting script—which he described as “‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ in reverse”—that went on to not only become a beloved timeless classic but was also the start of a compelling direction for Sorbo’s future.

“I’m glad I did it because that really set me down the road to want to do more movies like that,” Sorbo said.

The film will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a special theatrical return on Aug. 5 and Aug. 7. A taped post-movie cast reunion chat including Sorbo, John Ratzenberger, and Kristy Swanson will be a highlight of the screenings.

“We had a great time,” Sorbo recalled. “I think people will enjoy it.”

Follow Your Moral Compass

Since saying yes to “What If,” Sorbo’s acting and directing resume has been filled with projects “that have hope, movies that have redemption, movies that have love, laughter,” he said. “I want people to laugh again. They’re very good family movies. And to me, that’s a win. It’s a positive thing.”

It’s become a family thing for Sorbo as well, with two of his and wife Sam’s three kids following in his footsteps. “Both my boys are acting,” said Sorbo. “My son Shane, he’s done about five movies. He and I had a movie that came out last year, a wonderful, touching Christmas movie called ‘God’s Here.’” Braeden’s got at least two movies coming out theatrically soon. One we did together, a comedy, shot up in Montana.”

Given that they “grew up on movie sets,” Sorbo was not surprised by their choice.“My wife started homeschooling the kids when they were pretty young,” he recalled. “And because I’m doing three, four movies a year, I was on the road—six weeks here, one month there, two months over here. They would travel with us and be on the movie sets. I remember telling my wife, ‘Don’t be surprised if they say they want to act.’ Well, sure enough, when they were like 11 and 13, my boys said they wanted to act. My wife found an acting class and they studied for a couple of years. They put time into it.”

Work Hard to Land Your Dreams

The advice Sorbo had for his sons as they started down the same road he once began “was pretty much passed down from my mom and dad,” he explained. “I’m the fourth of five kids. Everything was about hard work. Don’t expect handouts. You work hard. You just keep following that dream, as corny as that sounds. Even though I wanted to be an actor since I was 11, I did every job under the book until those breaks came for me. I was there to work when I could stand. I started a paper route when I was 9 years old. For seven years, I got up at 4:30 every morning, six days a week in Minnesota winters, delivering 80 newspapers. I learned the value of a buck very early in life.”

Sorbo still sounds a little astonished that it was a Shakespeare production that sparked his own acting bug. “We lived about 30 miles west of Minneapolis and a very famous theater called the Guthrie Theater,” Sorbo said.

“In fifth grade, we went to see ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ Now I don’t know what the heck they were saying because I was 11—and Shakespeare. But I made up my mind. I told my mom on the way home—she was a chaperone on the bus—’Mom, I’m going to be an actor.’ And she said, ‘That’s nice, dear,’ with a little mom pat on the thigh. The seed was set and I never stopped having that dream.”

Fun memories of family movie nights—watching classics like “The Sound of Music,” “The Ten Commandments,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Philadelphia Story,” and “Casablanca,” “many many times” convinced Sorbo that movies and television could be a force of good.

Stay Focused on Your Goals

Along the way, Sorbo found inspiration from screen greats Paul Newman and Anthony Quinn. During his time as Hercules, a high school friend who had an interview with Newman shared with him Sorbo’s admiration for the Oscar-winning actor also known for his charitable works. Newman sent him a “wonderful encouraging letter” that Sorbo pointed to hanging on his office wall.

“And I was blessed with working with Anthony Quinn the first year of ‘Hercules,’” Sorbo said. “We did five two-hour movies and Anthony Quinn played Zeus. So I got a whole year working with a guy that’s been nominated for four Oscars. He’s won twice. From ‘Guns of Navarone’ to ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ ‘Zorba the Greek.’ I mean, the guy—his brain every day.”

The journey from that school kid’s dream to the present is still an adventure for Sorbo, who is “curious to see people’s response” and hopes to “sneak in” to a “What If” screening. After that, with work lined up including a faith-based golf comedy, “The Holy One” directed by actor Dean Cain, Sorbo remains true to the path that “What If” sent him on 15 years ago—where “the good guy wins, redemption means something, that hope means something, family means something.”