Theology in the Raw - S9 Ep940: Being a Christian in Hollywood: Hannah Barefoot

Episode Date: January 24, 2022

Hannah Barefoot is a theatrically trained actress, singer, and dancer originally from Cody, Wyoming. Her first leading role role in the cult favorite, 'The Falls: Testament of Love,' earned her a reputation as a raw and vulnerable dramatic actress early on, while her work in improv developed her comedic chops. She has since starred in many movies and TV shows including King Richard, CSI, Chicago Med, Creepshow, LA’s Finest, Criminal Minds, Good Girls Revolt, and many others.  As a singer, Hannah is one half of an indie-folk-rock duo, The Luminous Grey, alongside her husband, Andy Barefoot. Their music has been commissioned and featured in feature films, including two of Hannah's films, and she was recently the lead in renowned choreographer Galen Hook's western musical film, 'There Once Was a Woman.' In this episode, Preston talks with Hannah about what it’s like being a Christian in Hollywood. She takes us behind the scenes and discusses her raw and vulnerable perspective on God, life, acting, Hollywood, and how she understands the art of acting in light of the kingdom of God.  Theology in the Raw Conference - Exiles in Babylon At the Theology in the Raw conference, we will be challenged to think like exiles about race, sexuality, gender, critical race theory, hell, transgender identities, climate change, creation care, American politics, and what it means to love your democratic or republican neighbor as yourself. Different views will be presented. No question is off limits. No political party will be praised. Everyone will be challenged to think. And Jesus will be upheld as supreme. Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Venmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1 Connect with Preston Twitter | @PrestonSprinkle Instagram | @preston.sprinkle Youtube | Preston Sprinkle Check out Dr. Sprinkle’s website prestonsprinkle.com Stay Up to Date with the Podcast Twitter | @RawTheology Instagram | @TheologyintheRaw If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review.

Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of Theology in the Raw. If you would like to attend the Theology in the Raw conference, you can look at all the info in the show notes. Go to pressandsprinkle.com. The conference is March 31st to April 2nd here in Boise, Idaho. You can attend the conference live or stream it online. Some people have asked if you want to stream it online, but you're in a weird time, not weird time zone, but a very different time zone where you can't watch it live, can you get access to it after the conference?

And the answer is yes. You will have seven, I think seven days, at least seven days to watch the entire conference if you sign up to stream it live. So all the info is on my website, PressAndSprinkle.com. All right. I have on the show today an actress, Hannah Barefoot. I love getting Christian artists on the show. And I've had musicians. I've had, I think, painters.

Is that the term? I don't know. People who do like actually physical artwork with colors and stuff. I've never had an actress on or an actor. Actor, actress? Is it actor? She had an actress on or an actor. Actor, actress, is it actor? She keeps referring to herself as an actor. So I guess actor applies to both sexes. Anyway, Hannah Barefoot,

I just found out recently that she actually listens to the podcast. So we follow each other on Instagram and I was like, you're the only actress, actor that I kind of know, kind of from a distance, I think. So would you want to be on the podcast?

And she was like, yeah, I would love to. So I absolutely loved, loved this conversation. Hannah, first of all, she's an accomplished actress. She's in, let me just scroll her rap sheet here. She's been in at least 60 different productions, including Chicago Med, the new movie with Will Smith, King Richard, The Evening Hour, Creepshow, Lucifer, Criminal Minds, The Jump, A Bride's Revenge,

Bad Samaritan, Blood, Sweat, Lies, Lessons. And I'm trying to see if there's more. I mean, and I'm trying to see if there's more. I mean, there's so many here that we could list. CSI, she's been in an episode of CSI, Fall Into Me, and on and on it goes. Anyway, she's like a real actress. She's like super accomplished and is awesome. She's also a solid believer in Jesus, and we had such a great conversation

talking about what it's like being a Christian in Hollywood. I've always wondered that. Like, what's that like? Like, I don't know. Like, there's so many questions I have about how to navigate that space and the challenges and maybe some of the stereotypes and assumptions that aren't true and maybe some that are true. And so anyway, I really enjoy talking to Hannah Barefoot. So please welcome to the show for the first time, the one and only, the actor, Hannah Barefoot. All right, friends, I'm here with Hannah Barefoot.

Hannah, thanks so much for being on Theology in the Broad. I've been super excited about this conversation. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. So I really want to, why don't we start by here. Tell us your story. How, you know, did you grow up in the church? How did you get into acting and wanted to go this route? And then I'm really just so curious about what it's like being a Christian in Hollywood. And not just like, you know, there's Christian actors, but then you're like a real actor. I don't know, you're not talking to people that are, you know, I was an extra at a commercial 10 years ago and I'm still waiting for my, but you're like in the scene. So yeah, tell us how you, if you grew up in the church or not and how you got into what you're doing now.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm from Wyoming. I'm from a small town called Cody, Wyoming, which is the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. If anyone's ever been there, it's, I think, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. And I was raised there. My family is – most of my family is still there, my mom and my sister. Go back as often as I can. I was raised in a church, a Presbyterian church.

We went every Sunday. It was a very traditional church, you know, like the pastor wore a robe and we always wore dresses and there was, you know, organs and all that. And I remember becoming a believer. I asked Jesus into my heart. I prayed the prayer when I was probably seven. Okay. So pretty young. But it was just a part of our lives.

It was like I honestly wouldn't have known anything different. And it was very genuine for me too as a kid. So, yeah, I grew up in the church. My, I always was performing. Um, I was always an athlete and a performer. So I was always on the swim team from fourth grade through high school, competitive swimmer. And then, um, also I was a dancer. So I was, uh, training my, my first goal was actually to become a professional ballerina. And I started dancing because I really wanted to be a figure skater, and we didn't have a nice skating rink. So I started dancing, and then I started realizing I'm –

like I started doing the plays at middle school and high school and just started to realize, Oh, this is different. There's something about this that is just so much fun. I'm, I'm not just using my body, which I'm so familiar with as an actor, I mean, excuse me, as a athlete and a dancer, but, but then there's like, there's so much more, you know? And I was a singer too, cause I was raised, my, my dad was a singer, so he always raised us. So all of a sudden, acting for me, probably around sixth grade, I did this little silly melodrama where I got to play the villain, like a mustache twirly villain. And people were laughing, and I was just so free. I was like just so free and there was something different about acting for me versus dance where it's very technical and you have to hit all the moments of every moment. And sports, which I'm honestly pretty bad at, except I'm physical.

I'm just not a great athlete. And singing, which has which I'm a gifted singer, but it also has its limitations. And acting all of a sudden seemed to be like the combination of everything, where there's just so much freedom flowing through me. And so it's kind of at sixth grade that I realized I really love this. So I just started doing all the plays that I could do. And then I went on to major in theater in college. I went to the University of Wyoming on scholarship and you wouldn't know that Wyoming has an amazing acting program because it's Wyoming, right? It's like kind of

this cowboy state in the middle of nowhere that most people don't even know about. And, um, but it honestly has this incredible theater program and it I got so much amazing training going there and the other benefit of going to a school like that versus like you know a larger school is I my first semester as a freshman I was able to have a role on the main stage play which doesn't happen if you go to like NYU or, you know, USC, you might not get a role on stage until you're a senior. So, um, so I, I got an incredible education as an actor. Um, all throughout that though, I, I really, I was, I was a believer. I was a church goer. Um, but I, and it was genuine for me, but it was

really an immature faith. And, um, ultimately like, as I got deeper into acting, I started to have a lot of questions because the actors that I knew, well, in Wyoming, I didn't know any actors. There's just not a lot of actors except for community theater actors. And then, of course, I had great actor professors. They weren't believers, but they were great actors. I just didn't have any examples of Christians who were actors or who had families or, and I really wanted to get married. And, um, probably partly because I was, you know, raised in a conservative home. I was like, I'm going to get married. And so, um, I kind of started to notice that there was a disconnect

between my desire to pursue acting. And I had, I started to believe, I just started to have questions like, does God like acting? It's an okay thing to be doing. Cause my only understanding of actors really like a real actors was what I saw on tabloids that they have affairs a lot. They are awful people.

They are, you know, which is, you know, like now I'm actor and I understand that that's just, you know, media, but, um, but I didn't have a good understanding of what, what to be an actor was like as a real human being, much less as a follower of Jesus. Um, so I started to honestly, in my desire to become an actor, wonder if God maybe disapproved of acting. And then I didn't know what to do with that because I wanted to be an actor so bad. I was so called into that, I felt. So I kind of started to pursue acting more and left God behind. And man, that's getting it. That gets into some pretty deep stuff. But ultimately, I began kind of neglecting church, largely because I also was in rehearsal all the time and I didn't have time for stuff. So I didn't have a lot of good Christian community either. Um, and I, in, in college, I had a bit of a breakdown and just decided to quit acting. And that's actually when I met my husband and I just,

yeah, quit acting. We moved to Oregon. Um, I didn't act for six years. I had a baby. I didn't act for six years. I had a baby. I was working in a bank. I worked at Wells Fargo. I worked at a credit union and I worked at State Farm Insurance. And I was just like doing these terrible jobs that I hated and I'm a creative person. I'm not good at detailed stuff, you know. And it was ultimately when I had my son, when he turned two, and I realized, man, I really want him to grow up. I want him to be alive. I want to raise him so that he is becoming all that God's made him to be. And I realized, you know, but I'm not. I'm not doing any of that. and um and I realized you know but I'm not I'm not doing any of that and so that's when I started to feel like the stirrings in my soul and it's almost like permission I felt from God like you know go back to it so we were in Oregon in Portland and I started acting again there and I uh just started with some small non-union commercials indie films and then worked into some bigger things i got my sag card in portland and then we moved once i got my sag card there was not enough union work for me so we had to leave and we moved to la i don't know i don't know what a sad card is what's that oh my sag card yeah screen actors guild oh oh oh gosh thought SAG card, like the weather made

me sad and I got my SAG card. I'm so glad you clarified. No, the weather does make me sad in Portland. It's the most beautiful city, but it's also like, oh, it's raining again. No. So I got my Screen Actors Guild. I joined the union, got my card. And then once you join the union, you're not allowed to do non-union work. And in smaller markets, it tends to be mostly non-union work because there's less regulations. But when you join the union, you have protections from the guild and you get health insurance. It becomes more of a real job. I mean, it's always a real job but

the benefits become more tangible is it equivalent to like a school getting accredited like you have non-accredited schools and they go through a rigorous process accreditation and okay now you're kind of official i mean that's a bad maybe it's a bad analogy but maybe yeah maybe it's uh sag productions just tend to be more official and more treated. The rules are in place so that the actors are protected and treated fairly and not abused. Okay. So the ball was going in Portland. Yeah.

And then is it kind of inevitable to really make it you have to spend some time in L.A.? That's always my impression. I mean, I think so. Yeah. I or new york especially um i think you could easily have a living in a place like atlanta right now because there's so many productions um but a lot of the larger roles they still do hire out of la okay okay yeah and you've been there for you said six seven years something like that seven years yeah seven Okay. Can you tell us some of the things you've been in? Like, I mean, whether we've, we've know about it or not, like what are some things that you've really enjoyed? Some different types of roles? Like, are you like a, a certain kind of, you're always in a certain kind of role or do you play a diverse range of types of things or? Yeah, I play,

I have, I have a pretty broad range so i do i do comedy and drama both but um most recently i was in king richard which is an amazing film with will smith and it's about the the venus venus and serena williams um and their father richard williams how he raised them and um and it's an incredible movie. And I was so honored to be in that. I have a supporting role in that, but I was just so honored to be in such an amazing story with man. I mean, Will Smith is one of the best actors of all time. So that was, that was an amazing opportunity. And then, um, and I'm in a film coming up that will be released later this year called Somebody I Used to Know, which is written and produced by Alison Brie and her husband Dave Franco, who also directed it. So it's a rom-com.

And I'm excited about that. That's going to be good. I've done a lot of independent film, which, you know, people see or don't see. And then I've done a lot of independent film which you know people see or don't see and then i've done a lot of a lot of tv so um most recently i was in chicago med and um i've been in dirty john creep show the creep show reboot that was super fun um i've done let's see you know all the ncis csi la uh criminal minds those kind of jobs but yeah oh one of my favorite jobs was um good girls revolt on amazon okay and that was an amazing show a period piece that was set in 1969 and it was actually a true story about the, um, you know, women's equality in the workplace. Good girls revolt. Good girls revolt. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And that was unfortunately canceled

after one season by, um, the head of Amazon who was later canned for sexual harassment in the workplace, ironically enough. So yeah, but it was a great show and yeah, I've had a, I'm so grateful. I've had a lot of really amazing opportunities to play a really wide variety of characters. Um, everything from, you know, like the romantic lead to like a psychotic stabby killer and super stabby. I get real stabby sometimes stabby sometimes and that's really fun for me honestly really why that's that's so interesting yeah it is really interesting it's fun because i love to tell all stories i love to tell all types of roles and and I, I think that there's a place for, um, I think there's a place for characters that are, um, well, there's definitely a place for characters that are foils

to the larger story. So I, um, I, I tend to play the, the roles that tend to be most interesting to me are the ones that are the foil to, um, to maybe the, the greater good. And so, um, a lot of times I've played roles that have just been the villain and, um, and I, I try and bring like a real humanity to that and compassion to the character that i'm playing so that i'm not just going in it to be a caricature um you know but um yeah it's if i'm just being honest too it's just really fun because i love maybe it's my athlete it's you get really physical so i love i, I love fighting. And, um, it's really incredible to choreograph, um, a fight scene that looks real,

but in real life you never once touched the person that you're opposite. Yeah. Yeah. Well, what's been, Oh man, so many questions. Where do I want to go? Um, what, what are some of the, I guess, main challenges being a Christian in these spaces? And I think there is this assumption that just everybody's having sex with everybody and everybody's just hyper immoral and all this stuff. And I don't know, is there some truth to that or is it way not that or somewhere in between? Yeah. So there is truth to that.

And there's also and that's also a stereotype you know um i what i was part of my journey has been discovering well a rediscovering that god loves acting he god loves storytelling because he's he is the story. He's the greatest storyteller. I love the scene in, um, the magician's nephew, you know, in CS Lewis, um, where Aslan is singing all of creation into being. So he sings and then trees start popping up and he like sings another note and, and something else happens. So I read that it meant so much to me just, uh, because I don't know, God, God is a storyteller. And so for us to tell stories, like there's nothing that tugs at a person's soul more than a well-told story. And so, um, I firmly believe coming through a lot of junk and having to undo a lot of misbeliefs that now I firmly

believe that acting is a really noble calling for those of us who are called to that. And, um, and I've also been pleasantly surprised and, and like joyfully surprised that there are a lot of Christians in Hollywood who are, who, yeah, a lot of people who love Jesus and not just in not just the ones who are making Christian movies right um there's a lot of my church that I go to is full of full of writers and actors and directors and um you know people people who are working on all sorts of things and so it's really one of my passions is talking about this stuff because it's a misunderstanding that Hollywood is just, you know, this Satan's pit teeming with like snakes disguised as people and, you know, um, and that everyone's eating babies. And I just don't believe that. I don't, it's, and maybe that's true. I don't know, but I'm not.

You're just oblivious, Hannah. You don't know what's going on. I don't know anything. No, I just like that. That's not for me to really spend my time thinking about. I think what I, what is meant for me to spend my time thinking about is how can I love God and love others and do my work really well in a way that invites people into the kingdom of God? Right. Right. That's so good. That's great. What's, I have to ask, I mean, you mentioned Will Smith, what's Will Smith like? He seems like he would be a normal, awesome dude, but.

I didn't meet him. Oh really? Oh no. So I, so they filmed it actually. They filmed the movie before, you know, during, before the pandemic had to shut down and they came back and filmed it. And at least from my understanding, they were editing it and they needed to do some, add some new scenes in because they, they actually like a really terrible tennis mom. And I, and I believe that they put mine in there. They filmed it long after they were finished. I believe they, they, um, put my character in there to be a foil to his, that he, cause he's a terrific dad in the movie. I mean, it's complicated and he's his own guy, but, um, but, uh, but my character is just simply awful.

So do you enjoy that? Like, is that, is that fun for you to play? It is. Although I was just berating this poor eight year old girl for hours and that was hard. Um, but I did meet the actress who played Venus and she was really terrific. Okay. Okay. Is there ever, I've always wondered this.

So I have a high respect for, I'm not artistic at all, but I have a high respect for the arts as a significant place in the kingdom of God. I love what you said. God is a storyteller. We have a story to tell. But even from a rhetorical perspective, when you embody truth in a story,'s just so it just resonates with our humanity yeah especially when it's not and this might be my beef with some christian movies whatever no offense to people who like them or in them but like sometimes the line between good and evil is too clean like i like complicated characters complicated stories um and maybe i can come back to that but i'm quite but this and this is kind of a maybe a goofy christian question but like do you ever battle with like

doing something as part of your script like swearing or making out with a dude or something like is that is that ever like weird or an issue i always i always wonder if there's like a steamy scene now you know if you're in any but like like my wife, I'm like, would you be okay with that? She's like, no, it'd be kind of hard for me. Have you wrestled with that? Is that really a thing? Or is that kind of non-actors only really struggle with visualizing that? No, that is such a real thing.

And it is a hard thing. It's hard on so many levels because because and i think everybody has to come to this decision for themselves so for me personally i would never tell another actor what to do um i would especially a non-believer i would i would have a different conversation with a non-believer than i would a believer because we live we we live with a different i my authority is jesus and um and so we have different value systems but um so people are free to do whatever they want to do and i have always been a dancer so i've always been really free with my body i was a visual artist so i you know drew naked people in front. They would sit there.

To me, it was always like, oh, that's art. I see their whole body and it's art. But then it became when those opportunities have been presented to me as an actor. And earlier on in my career, I, um, made some different choices. Um, but later I went through a, a real transformation, um, in the last four years where I, my faith went from being a church going, My faith went from being a church going, Jesus is my savior faith to, oh no, God is actually, Jesus is the Lord of my life. He is the authority of my life. And that is a good thing.

It's not like I'm now, like I drank the Kool-Aid and now I'm like, whatever you want. It's actually like out of gratitude because Jesus really rescued me from some dark things. Um, I did start going down some really dark paths with acting, um, because I, it became an idol for me. It, um, it was the, it was the thing that I was hungry for over anything. hungry for over anything. And, um, and I was just desperate to succeed at any cost. And I, I, so I, I did start to walk away from God and from my, my husband and from like, I, I was just intent on succeeding at any cost ultimately. And, um, and it was kind of in those, in that darkness that Jesus met me and I had just a tangible experience with God where he, I experienced him looking at me with so much love and so much tenderness and forgiveness that, um, like, and lifting me out of this ash heap of brokenness that now I genuinely feel like, no, God, Jesus is my, he's, he's it now. Like he's everything because I know what death

feels like. And now I know what life feels like. And so I, in my work now, I really want to honor him in that. And so there have been opportunities because I don't do Christian movies, not even because I've turned them down. Honestly, it's just like I haven't really run in that circle. run in that circle. Um, but, uh, I, I, my heart is to create kingdom work that invites people into the question of what if, what if there is a God that loves me? And so I think that we can more effectively do that, or at least I believe I can more effectively do that in, um, work that tells all sorts of stories and that is not squeaky clean. Um, so I look at every job on a case by case basis. So when I get an audition, I read the whole script and, um, if ultimately the story is redemptive and I have peace about the whole story and, um, what I'm asked to do in it

and what I believe the influence of that story and that character would be then I'll do the audition and I'll likely do the role but if there's any one of those pieces that's missing then I won't and that's happened many times that I've said no I can't do

this and like most I had one happen last week and I can talk about that. But, uh, the one that was the most defining for me was, um, last year it was January of 2021. So coming off the pandemic when there was no work, you know, and, um, I auditioned for a show and they really liked me, but they said, oh, actually that role is going to be much smaller. And so we don't want to waste you on that.

So we want you to read for this other character. It hadn't been written yet. So I read for it, just some dummy sides, and then they offered it to me. But then I found out later, after they offered it to me, the next day they said, oh, yeah, by the way, full frontal nudity, lots of sex in every scene, every episode. And I just couldn't do that. And I had to actually sit down after I turned it down. I turned it down because I just had the gut reaction. Like I knew it was not right,

but I will be honest that I wrestled with it because as an artist, a visual artist and an athlete, I've always just had the mindset. Yeah. But like our bodies are our bodies, but I had to kind of go through and really have like a theological conversation with myself and really scour the Bible. And, um, and I came up with a, basically a theology of why I turned that role down and why I, and now my thoughts on like sex and nudity in TV and film. And that was incredibly valuable for me. Just now I have that.

I have that. And I remind myself of that all the time. Can you unpack what you came up with? I mean. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So there's the first obvious one is like, that's, that's hard on my husband. So my husband and I had a, we reconciled our marriage.

We've reconciled, but I, now I love him. Like, I mean, I loved him before, but now I, now I really love him, you know, and I want to, I want to honor him, not just him as his wife, but I like, I want to honor him, his feelings and that he actually, he really cares about me and I want to honor him. And so that's hard for him for me to be naked is hard. You know, that's hard for a husband, for his wife. And so, um, I love my husband and I, that's just hard because I care about him. I want to honor that. Um, but it goes way deeper than that. It's not just about it's not just about that. It's also, you know, I I looking at who I am and as a redeemed person, I am made an image of God.

made in the image of God. My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I was bought with a price. I'm not my own. And then you, my brothers, were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love. So I have so much freedom. I can do whatever because I am free in Christ, but the freedom allows me to serve other people. And so it not only allows me to serve the person that I'm in a closest relationship with my husband, it also allows me to serve, um, though the other actor that I would be working with, um, because those situations like sexual situations can be really, there can be really complicated. Um, even though it's really professional and I'm, I'm so grateful these days, there's intimacy coordinators on set. Um, there's a lot of, um, there's just a lot of

professional boundaries in, in, um, in play these days that didn't used to be. So there are a lot- Can I just real quick, what's an intimacy coordinator? I mean, I can kind of guess, but that's, I've always wondered, I hope this doesn't sound creepy or whatever, but like I've always, like in some of the scenes,

I guess I have so many questions, like how many takes they do and over and over and over. And I know it's just acting or they're in character, but still, we're still human. We're still human, yeah. I don't know, like it's it's complicated so an intimacy coordinator really came rose up out of the me too movement because there was a lot of just sexual um like abuse happening and um people were not being you know people there's a lot of pressure to say yeah I'll do it even if you're not comfortable because you you want your job to be safe you know you want to it's so hard to get one it's so hard

to get a job in Hollywood and so you don't want to put that on it's tempting to like no whatever you want I'll do it um but an intimacy coordinator if you do find yourself in a role that requires you to have an intimate scene, an intimacy coordinator is there as your go-between. So they're the ones that like helps you coordinate, almost choreograph it with the other actor and the director and the cinematographer. They're the ones that help you, they advocate for you. So if you say, I'm comfortable with that, but I'm not comfortable with that. Um, you tell them that, and then they communicate that. So it really protects the actor. Oh yeah. Um, and they, they're, they're like the choreographer. They help, they help figure it out

in a way that is professional, that looks real, but, but it, um, but it maintains everyone's boundaries. So I really thank God for the Me Too movement and the, you know, the rise of protections like that. Um, yeah, so, so, but nonetheless, it can be emotionally complicated because acting is an emotional thing. So, um, let's see, I was saying about, um, your, your theology of kind of what, yeah, what you would and wouldn't do want to do and why, like, where do you draw the line and why do you draw it here? Not here or whatever.

Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I, yeah. So again, I look at everything on a case by case basis, but, but I always am considering, um, like I said, my husband husband because that's my closest relationship. Also, I'm raising a prepubescent boy. And I just have that.

That's got to be complicated. I have that in my thoughts. Yeah. I also am more of the mindset that these days that, I don't know, just the casualness that we portray sex with on screen is actually, I don't think it's as liberating as we are saying it is. I think that often, I don't know, I don't know. I'm not trying to figure out how to say this well but um i don't know i'm not sure how to say let me i don't want to put words in your mouth but like to me there would when when people ask a question about let's just say nudity in a film yeah we could say all nudity is bad and maybe it

is but there still is how how something's portrayed within the narrative does make a difference i mean okay let's go to an easy one easier one maybe like swearing or something it's like sure or any kind of like sin like just because a movie contain a truthful genuinely christian movie like christian in the sense it has a christian worldview should contain evil complexity people swearing you know like me, it's almost like a dishonest film if it doesn't contain sin. The question is, is it glorifying sin? What role does sin play in the narrative retelling? Could it be with nudity? There could be some really bad presentations in nudity where it's just like, this just radically goes against anything that the creator would want to, he created us nude.

So he's not against nudity per se. So, um, and I don't, I don't know if I have an answer to like this kind of nudity would actually be awesome, you know, like from a Christian perspective, but it it we have to at least ask the question right there's different portrayals of different things you know i don't know and the yeah exactly i'm so glad you brought that up because i was struggling with my words there the it's it you're absolutely right the um the it's it's like the the purpose also for what which it's created for. Cause some nudity is simply meant to exploit and get audiences, you know? So it's cheapening.

It's cheapening. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. We, you know, like we, we can, we can use nudity in some moments to tell the story effectively. Um, but I think oftentimes with like sexual nudity, it is meant to get eyes and it's kind of, in my opinion, it's lazy storytelling because it doesn't really ask any, it asks much less of the writer and the storyteller. We're like, Oh, like oh i don't well let's just put in a really hot sex scene there and then like of course people are going to watch it you know because people are you know human beings um but i think it takes a much more creative um storyteller on all sides to tell the story in a way that is so compelling like that. Um,

and yeah, I, I just don't, one of my favorite Bible verses that has really informed, um, what I think about is, um, first Thessalonians, where is it? First Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 3 through 6. It's God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that's holy and honorable, not impassionate, less like the pagans who do not know God, and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. And I just really appreciate that because, um, because the whole point, God's whole view of, of sexuality is that it should be honoring and that like, we shouldn't be wronging one

another. So I think when we are so casual about sex all the time on screen, like there's so many people to consider. So there's me myself who might be performing that. There's the people I'm in a relationship with. There's the person I'm doing that with and all of their relationships. And then not only that, there's the people watching it. And I'm not responsible for anybody's reaction. They are responsible for their own hearts and their own reactions.

However, I am responsible for what I've been given. And so if I willingly say, oh, whatever, it's there, they'll deal with it. And I put myself out there in a way because I'm free, oh, whatever, it's there. They'll deal with it. And I, you know, put myself out there in a way because I'm free. Right. I still can allow myself to be the tool that then they think about me when they're having sex with their own wife. Right, right. Or, you know, and I so so I've really thought a lot about this and I've just come to a point where I don't know that it's just not I don't know. Do people respect like the I don't know, the directors, producers? It's like when you said no to that role, like, is that looked down upon? Like, is it hard to say, all right, here's my line.

I won't do this. I won't go this far or whatever. Like after a while, are people going to start sidelining you or is it not? Do people respect the actor's boundaries? I think people do respect. I didn't hear anything back from that director. But that's because all the communication was done through my agent. So I don't know what they think about me.

My reps are really wonderful. They know me and love me and they're, they're good people. So, um, I feel really grateful to have reps who are not pressuring in any way. Um, I, I suppose, you know, to a point, yeah, people will, if you, yeah, I'm, I'm sure that's a possibility, but, um, but I don't know. Yeah. Well, I'm curious, you mentioned me too. Um, and that obviously started in Hollywood mainly. Um, is that, can you, I don't know what you can say, but is that a, is that pretty prevalent or did it used to be? And is it as much now as I guess I have several questions, like has the me too movement been effective at

addressing these kinds of abusive situations is, and is there a lot of pressure on from men towards women in particular to like, I don't know, be available or whatever. Yeah. I think, well, yeah. I mean, we've all heard stories of the casting couch, like yeah that that's a real thing and i think less so these days because one of the great things about the me too movement a the intimacy coordinators for intimate scenes but also you can no longer have meetings in hotel rooms which you know i hear i my dog i hear i hear that and i'm, in what other industry are people taking meetings in their hotel room? This is so bonkers. But my industry from the beginning has been kind of built like that. And so it's strange. And so I do see that the Me Too movement really has made some amazing shifts. And in fact, I did a scene in Creepshow where I didn't, there was no nudity or sex or anything like that,

but I had been in a car accident, so some of my clothes were ripped, you know. And there was a representative from the union on set to ask just to make sure that I was treated fairly and yeah. And so, so I, I really appreciate that. I'm so grateful for that. I, and I, I honestly see like the me too movement as, um, an act of God where, you know, like it so many for so long things were hidden and, you know, like it, so many for so long, things were hidden and, you know, people in power that you're might be afraid to say no to. Um, like that was, that was revealed. What was really going on was revealed and it was not pretty, but I'm really grateful that it happened.

Did you expect like prior to the me too movement, like you were still in acting and stuff. I mean, did you, did, did you experience like, yeah, yeah, I did. And, um, yeah, definitely. And I, I mean, in acting classes, um, there, yeah, there were some situations that were just ugly and, um, and very, felt very exploitative. And, um, also I was younger, so I didn't know, I didn't know that I could stand up for myself. Yeah. Yeah. It's so hard. Yeah. It is hard. It's ugly and it's just, it's not okay. Yeah. What would you say is like the biggest challenge to your faith as an actor?

I mean, I would kind of talk about some of it already, but I mean, are there other things that are like, man, when I go, when I do my job, this is, I have to like really be courageous in this area, that area. Right. Honestly, it's not a moral issue. It's not, it's not anything like turning down work. It's the biggest like turning down work. The biggest issue is trusting God that he will provide because my work is so transient. And sometimes I have work and sometimes I don't. work and sometimes I don't. And there this, I'm coming off a year that was wonderful. And I worked a lot of wonderful jobs, um, in like four States in a different country. And it was,

it was amazing. But, um, but I currently don't know what my next job will be. Um, so that is, that's always a hard thing. And I'm the kind of person, I'm really driven. I'm really ambitious. It's, it's always been my biggest challenge to, um, to trust God and not take the shortcut, you know? Um, not just like, or, or spiral out in anxiety. Um, and so this year I, I was praying with a woman at church and she, I asked her to pray over me in this situation, actually, to believe that God provides for us is a different thing than trusting him in the moment. And so, like, putting, you know, clothing myself in the new creation, like reminding myself, no, I'm God's. And therefore, he is providing for me. I don't know what that looks

like. It may not, I have such big dreams and it may not be those, the fulfillment of those dreams. It might be something else, but, but that, but just believing that God is good and that whatever he has for me is the best thing. And the, the other thing that I have to always remind myself of is to take the bigger view, because if I just look at this life or this moment, then I'm, then I get really, um, it's easy. It could be so easy just to be so, um, anxious all the time and to, or get discouraged because yeah, but God might not give me my hopes and dreams. God might, he, I know he's good. I know he's good, but he might not give me those things. But if I remember and remind myself constantly, yeah, but there's eternity and, and everything broken will become,

will come on, you know? Um, and I'll be in the presence of God and that will be, that's what I'm like hoping for, you know, like that's, that's the thing.

And so, um, I know God is with me in the present, but what I'm really longing for is like, it's going to be okay. One day it will all be okay. That's good. That's good. What, what church do you go to? Are you allowed to say out loud?

Yeah, we actually, so my husband's a worship pastor and we actually just he just resigned from the church that we were at in Burbank. It was called story city church. It's a, it's a wonderful church. But we, we just honestly felt called onward called onward to something else and we don't know what that is. So funny enough, he's in an interview right now with a church here in LA. So I don't know. We don't know. But, um, yeah, there's, there's some really good churches in LA. We, we've been visiting, um, friends over at Vintage Pasadena, which is an

Anglican church, and we've loved that. Yeah, yeah. Highly recommend. Yeah. I love, I don't go to an Anglican church, but I love, lots of friends that do, love the Anglican church. Yeah. Probably my favorite denomination. It might be mine, too. And it's like

a whole, like a charismatic movement in the Anglican churches the churches too that are, that I really resonate with that. Yeah. I don't know if you know, I'm from, I'm from, I was born and raised in LA,

in TO, Thousand Oaks. So I was born in, yeah, yeah. I was born in Westlake, spent a couple of years in TO, then grew up in Fresno,

then moved back to like Santa Clarita, Simi Valley. Yeah. So mainly kind of like Ventura county ish north la so um in fact i lived i think before i was born my parents and my older brother lived in i think he was born in san marino which is just on the other side of pasadena i think so not too far okay yeah very yeah no no the area really well um yeah gosh there's something i was it's gonna drive me crazy i was gonna ask something and i forgot shoot um was it about trusting god or go ahead no no it wasn't that we should have been yeah it's terrible i was no it was a dumb the dump doll yes it was about trusting

i was asking a stupid question what do actors do when they're not like if they're not working i just assume they're like working out all day and drinking all night or something i mean what that's exactly it i'm gonna go do right now after this no uh, I love to exercise. So I exercise a lot that keeps me like, it's important for me to be in shape, but it also just keeps my head clear. And, um, I'm kind of, um, I have a hard time sitting still. So I do work out a lot. Um, I write, I'm a writer. So yeah, so I'm actually in the middle of writing, um, my second feature film and I'm shopping around the first feature film, which is, uh, when I'm really excited about, and it's set in Wyoming where I'm from and I have real hopes to make that in the next year. Wow. Yeah. And then, you know, like lots of things things like i edit my own um my own reels and all that stuff

like that but there's also you know like there's an audition every day or so um and that takes a lot of work and time um class um and then of course i'm a mom, so I have my kid. Is that pretty typical? I mean, I always, I always assume like actors are just like at the gym four hours a day or whatever. Like what, you know, if they're not, is that not, is it like a requirement to like, No, I mean, and what is great also is there's a whole body positivity movement too now.

Right. Which is amazing because all body types are beautiful and they're actually being seen as such. So to be an actor, you don't have to be like super fit or skinny or anything, but I just enjoy working out. So for me and the types of characters that I play tend to be fit. So that's just something that I love, but, and I, I cannot work out for, I, if I, maybe I'll work out for like 30 minutes. Oh, okay. Yeah. Wait till you get a little older. It'll turn into, I used to, oh my God, because I was an

athlete. I played baseball in college in high school. And I just remember eating like two carne asada burritos and being hungry like an hour later and then go to bed at night with like a pint of ice cream it's like recently i looked at my calorie i'm like oh my word i wouldn't need to eat for like three days if i did like if i don't go to gym like four at least four days a week it's not that's just for me to maintain like so i don't die at like six to five you know it's actually like burn guy like it's so much yeah i'm gonna go over but yeah no kidding but for me i it's it is that theory like you said that just that i don't know it's just that body and soul kind of combo like i just

feel better holistically when yeah my blood's just going i'm'm doing something. I'm active, you know. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. What advice would you give to anybody listening that would love to, yeah, go into theater, go into acting? They are a Christian. Like, are there certain kinds of Christians that you're like, hey, you're just going to get eaten up alive? Or is it something like, no, dude, any Christian can kind of make it if they want, want to. Yeah. I think, um, I think Christians, I think any, like, yeah,

like just do it. If, if, if you feel like God's calling you into that, um, or even if maybe you don't have that specific of a, if maybe you couldn't even say, I don't know that God's calling me to, I just love it. Well, yeah, just do it. And then I think the industry will weed you out if it's not for you, because it's such a hard business. And I think that, like, the main thing, yeah, like, if you want to do it, if you have this, like, love for performing and storytelling, just go for it.

But I would definitely say pursue God first. Make God the most important thing as well as studying your acting, as well as becoming a great artist. But really get to know the God who loves you and made you and who is the best storyteller that there is. Don't leave him out of the process because he will both provide for you and protect you and empower you and make you a better actor. He will, like, all these things. But pursue him first out of, like, he's the reason you're alive. So yeah, anyways, but, but I would, I would definitely encourage anybody to become an actor, um, with the knowledge that it's super hard and most actors don't succeed and do not make any money.

So, um, yeah, yeah. I think it's like, like, like like 17 of actors actually qualify for health insurance um so it's it's a hard hard business um and i've heard it said if you can think about anything else to do yeah that you should do that other thing um but if you love acting, just do it. And, and if it's hard, it's hard. Of course it's hard. It's really, but everything worthwhile is hard. That's I think most artistic fields, it's same with writing people like I want to be a writer, you know?

And it's like, okay, I mean a tiny sliver of people make any real money. And even that's not always livable, like to be a full-time writer. So it's just, you know, I mean, a tiny sliver of people make any real money. And even that's not always livable, like to be a full-time writer. So it's just, you know, I mean, I know people that are, but I just talked to a buddy of mine. I mean, brilliant writer. He's published a couple of Christian nonfiction books, but he really wants to do like fiction. Like he's got an agent PhD in England. Like this guy is like hyper qualified, but he's like, yeah, no,

but can't shop it around. And I don't have a huge – I'm not Stephen King or whatever. I can't get – people are like, this is a really good story. What's your platform like? And he's like, I'm trying to get one. I mean, there's just so many – you can be – or an athlete. I mean, there's so many amazing baseball players that have never seen the dirt on a major league field.

For whatever reason, there's just so many injuries, chance, whatever God's will. I mean, so it's, yeah, you have to be, you have to be, you have to love the art, the craft of it for itself. And if God opens up doors to make money or whatever, make a career, then that's awesome. You know, but it's almost like you have to keep those in order. I think, would you agree? Yeah, for sure. And there's no shame in having a side job, you know, to help pay your bills. But yeah, you have to, you just have to decide, like, I'm doing this because for the love of it,

because this is the thing that makes me come alive. You know it's like the chariots of fire um like i when i run i feel god's pleasure like that's what i feel i feel and that's what i felt when i was a kid you know for the first time performing and just like oh i'm there's like something else coursing through me right now that yeah that is not the same in any other thing that I can do. And I have to keep doing this. So yeah, I definitely encourage, I would never, never discourage someone from trying something just because it's not realistic or it's hard and it's not as practical

as being a banker or something, but I look, I mean, I was a banker and it was just the worst thing ever. Nothing against bankers, but you try to stuff an artistic person in a bank and that's just a disaster. Uh, Hannah, thank you so much for coming on the show. I learned a ton and I still have a thousand questions, but I will let you go. We're coming up on an hour here. So many blessings to you in your work. I just love hearing you, your twin passions for the art of acting and for God and how you've woven those together is super beautiful. So yeah, it's really admirable. Thank you, Preston. I'm so honored to be here.

Your podcast is awesome. Thank you so much. I was blown away that you actually listened to it. I'm like, oh my gosh. I've been listening to it for years. Really? Yeah, I have. Yeah, it's been really, really informing to me.

Do you know Kimmy Katiti personally? I do. Yeah, okay. Do you? Well, she's been on the podcast and she's coming to speak at a conference i'm doing here in boise that it's a theology and raw conference you should come up for it be awesome yeah i didn't know that she was on the podcast she i met her at church oh no i think because i know she lives in the same area she's an artist and everything so i figured exactly see her liking your stuff on instagram i think it's the only other person that i know that right

is on yours what that follows you so i'm like oh so i figured you guys went to church she's awesome she's such a talented artist yeah in fact we're um yeah she's she's speaking but she's also we've got nobody knows this yet so i'm letting the cat out of the bag but we got like gifts bags for everybody. And we have some of her art that's going to go in the bag. So yeah. That's cool. Yeah.

She's good. Cool. Well, have a good, uh, Tuesday afternoon. I really appreciate it. Thank you,

Preston. Thank you.