Actor Kelsey Grammer is more than someone who portrays a man of faith in the new movie Jesus Revolution. He said he also walks the walk — and he’s proud to do it.
Let’s start with the movie.
It’s based on real-life pastor Chuck Smith, who decided to invite hippies introduce rock music into his fledgling church. Along the way, Smith received help from Lonnie Frisbee of street preacher Lonnie Frisbee (played by Jonathan Roumie).
Grammer, 68, watched the finished product with wife Kayte Walsh.
“It’s really uplifting. It’s a good movie,” Grammer said, via USA Today. “My wife and I saw it together. She was just dissolved in tears and said, ‘It’s the best thing you’ve ever done.’”
Grammer has become a full-fledged protestant after being raised as a Christian Scientist. He said he remembers the Jesus hippie movement of the 1960s and ’70s.
“They were energized and optimistic, and I thought that was a great thing to see,” he said.
Kelsey Grammer Gets Emotional Talking About “Jesus Revolution”
As for Chuck Smith, Grammer seemed to appreciate the way he welcomed the counterculture into the church.
“What Chuck did went back to one of the basic precepts of Christianity, which is inclusion,” Grammer told USA Today. “He thought, ‘Well, I’m doing it this way and people aren’t listening,’”‘ so he finally surrendered. He said, ‘You show me a hippie and I’ll listen.’
“Sure enough, it became a very dynamic relationship between him and Lonnie Frisbee. It became a great adventure, which is still going on. His (Calvary Chapel) church branched into 1,000 churches around the country and it still exists. Christian contemporary music is going gangbusters and (the Jesus movement) put that at his doorstep.”