New film on television For the Love of Ruth is offering viewers a modern retelling of the story of Ruth, who was known as "a woman of noble character" in the Bible.
The character is portrayed by breakout star Denise Boutte, who has long been praying for a project that would help define her acting career, and she feels overwhelmed to have landed the role of Ruth.
"When this project was presented to me, I was like, this is the project I've been having on my dream board for some time now, waiting for that wonderful opportunity," Boutte told The Christian Post.
The actress describes her character in the show as a survivor and a woman of deep faith who "always had the glass half full perspective."
"She is pretty fearless; until Naomi shows her exactly what faith is she really doesn't have the ability to take it to the next level. For me personally, it was just a very humbling experience living with this character the time I portrayed her," Boutte added. "She had a hard life and I can say thank you God I was blessed not to have been in a lot of the situations she was in."
The film premiered on Mother's Day and featured Loretta Devine as Naomi, James Pickens Jr. as her brother-in-law Stephen Marachond, and Gary Dourdan as Braxton Marachond.
The film's writer Rhonda Baraka said that they made some slight changes to Ruth's story, such as changing the Biblical character Boaz into that of Marachond, but they still kept many elements that were present in the Bible, such as the fact that Ruth suffers through many hardships in life and forms a bond with her mother-in-law Naomi.
Naomi battles with cancer in the film, and Boutte guarantees that there is something for everyone who watches For the Love of Ruth.
"It doesn't matter if you're not the most religious person out there, the point is that it's nourishing and nurturing for the soul. The film is not quoting every Bible verse known to man," she said. "There are some quotes that are in there, but for the most part you don't have to think that you're going to be beat over the head. If you are human, there's a story in there that you can relate to with regard to your life journey."
