The producer of "Unbroken: Path to Redemption" has praised the acting skills of Will Graham, who portrays his own grandfather, Billy Graham, in the upcoming movie about the conversion of Olympic gold medalist Louis Zamperini.
"Unbroken: Path to Redemption," produced by Matt Baer, tells the story of how Zamperini found redemption after being brutally tortured by the Japanese as a prisoner of war during World War II. The upcoming film is a sequel to Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken," which earned $163.4 million worldwide at the box office when it was released in 2014.
Baer, who was also involved in the production of the first movie, has said that one of the great aspects of the new film was Will Graham's portrayal of his grandfather, who shared the Gospel with Zamperini decades ago.
"We have such a lovely legacy in the film, this powerful connection between Louis Zamperini and Billy Graham," Baer said.
"So the first thing that we did was, we got in touch with Will to see if he would be interested for taking this on. And he was for a very simple reason — to honor his grandfather and the power that Billy Graham had on Louis' life. I think that it was courageous of Will to step into shoes that most people don't do," he continued.
Baer noted that Will Graham did a "terrific job" even though he is new to acting. "Now obviously it is even more powerful with Billy being gone, that Will is taking the mantle in the film," he said.
Zamperini, who died four years ago at age 97, will be portrayed by Samuel Hunt ("Chicago P.D."). Merritt Patterson ("The Royals") plays the Olympian's wife, Cynthia, while David Sakurai ("Iron Fist") portrays Zamperini's Japanese prison guard.
The upcoming film chronicles Zamperini's return to the U.S. after the war and his descent into despair during his pursuit of revenge. His quest almost resulted in a divorce from his wife, but Cynthia turns to God prays for her him.
Zamperini's life story is told in Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book, "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption," which became the basis of both the 2014 film and its sequel.
"Path to Redemption," which will be released on Oct. 5, was directed by Harold Cronk and written by Richard Friedenberg and Kenneth Hixon.
