Christian actor Ted McGinley dreamed of becoming a pastor when he was just a young boy, so when he first read the script for Do You Believe?, he was immediately drawn to its spiritual and emotional content.
"When I read it, there were four parts that I wanted to play and I thought that never happens. So right away just the script alone was enough to pull you in," he said in an interview with Breathe Cast. "To get the opportunity to play the pastor and marry one of those fantasies of mine as a kid to my real life, that's pretty cool."
The movie had such a huge impact on McGinley that there were some lines in the film that he made up himself, and one of these answers what the cross means to him.
"It means forgiveness, it means everlasting life and I believe it is the way and it is the truth. When I say that in the film, that wasn't in the script, I made that up," he said. "I believe it's the truth. I think what it really means to me personally is, that I'm never alone."
McGinley appreciates the power of the cross because it means God is always with him even during his "deepest darkest moments," and this is why he feels sorry for people who do not believe in God.
"I feel bad for people who aren't of faith because they don't have that blanket of faith of comfort," he shared. "When I'm going out on stage I always say a prayer before I go out, whatever it is, before I go out on a plane, there's always this connection God knows, I know and that's all I need and that works for me."
McGinley also revealed that not every actor in the film is a Christian, but after they wrapped up filming, everybody who was involved could not help but be changed.
"For some actors it is just a gig and maybe there were some, but I think what happens on a film like this, especially now that they're seeing it, is that they realise the full scope of a movie like that. And I think you can't work on a film like that without being changed in some way," he said.
