“It was this 10-page spread of this spiritual awakening that was sweeping the country in the most unusual places,” the 40-year-old filmmaker says. “In a lot of places that the established religion would say were off-limits – mainly with hippies. And it was this buoyant, positive, hopeful account of Christianity. A beautiful article.”Jonathan Roumie as Lonnie Frisbee in “Jesus Revolution.
Some of the movie’s real-life characters are familiar names in Christian and Southern California culture. Chuck Smith, played in the film by Kelsey Grammar, was the older pastor of Calvary Chapel, while Lonnie Frisbee, the young, charismatic Jesus-loving hippie played by Jonathan Roumie, was the hippie-turned-evangelist who did the first seaside submersions of new converts.
“Christianity mentions the word ‘love’ in its text more than any other world religion, and yet the way that it presents itself, it’s not that, often times,” he says. ‘I think it could be one of the most loving, powerful weapons of change wielded on the planet. But we have to get back to the general tenets of Christianity.”
“I loved the script – it has this heart to it that just really captures my attention,” he says. “And I was just floored by the themes of faith and hope and love, and this idea of community and family, and themes that are personal to me in my faith as a Christian that I treasure so dearly.” “Jon had a directive, and I thought it was so great,” McCorkle says. “He’s like, ‘I just want to feel like we dropped a camera into 1969.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, let’s go!’ So music was a huge part of that. But I have expensive taste.”