Actress Ashley Bratcher on 'Finding Faith' and Making Movies That Matter
ORLANDO -- As an actress, Ashley Bratcher has always been one who is willing to take chances. Whether it be taking on projects that are deemed controversial as she did with 2019’s Unplanned, or the upcoming film Pharma, the North Carolina native has made a commitment to stories of hope and redemption.
Her latest project isn’t any different. Currently streaming on Great American Pure Flix, Finding Faith is an inspirational story about perseverance and keeping your faith even under adverse circumstances. Also starring Jonathan Stoddard (The Young and the Restless), John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville), and Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day), the movie chronicles the challenges that life presents and fighting for the good that can come from them.
In Finding Faith, Bratcher portrays Victoria, a Christian advice columnist who begins to lose her faith after a series of troubling life events. Despite her struggles, she not only finds her way back to God but also restores her marriage in the process.
I recently sat down with Bratcher to discuss why God sometimes calls us to take a leap of faith even when we don’t want to, how to best find purpose in our lives, and why she will never accept a role just for the money.
How important is it for you to act in movies that have great significance and can have such great impact? Your thoughts on that?
For me, as a mother of a 13-year-old and a wife, when I choose a movie, it has to mean a lot to me. And I need to know that it's going to make a positive impact on the world and the audience is watching it. My time is very important to me as a mother and a wife. And if I have to leave them, step away, and spend time on a project, I have to know that it has meaning. So, when I'm working on something like Unplanned or the slate of films that I've done with Pure Flix, I know that I'm making a kingdom impact. And I know that hopefully it's going to change someone's life. That is what drives me to make movies with significant meaning. Otherwise, there's no point in me doing this.
So, you're not just going to take a part in a movie for the paycheck.
No. And you know, that drives some agents crazy because they make money when we make money. So, I've had my agent call me sometimes and she's like, “Why aren't you doing this movie?” I've had offers come in for movies. She's like, “Why don't you want to do this?” I'm like, well, it doesn't matter to me. I can't do this if it doesn't matter to me. Some people don't feel that way, but for me it matters.
Let's talk about this new movie, Finding Faith. If you were trying to encourage a friend or a family member to sit down and watch this movie, what would you say to them? What would your sales pitch be?
Finding Faith is about a woman who is an advice columnist, a faith advice columnist. And she's facing her own crisis of faith. We all face our own crisis of faith at some point in our lives. We're not perfect. A lot of us have questions, bad things happen to good people. And so, I would say it's important for people to watch it because it's relatable. It's good for people to know that when they have questions about their faith, or they're facing something in life that's really difficult, you're not alone. Lean into that community. Lean into Scripture to understand that God is still with you even when bad things are happening. We don't always see the big picture. It doesn't always make sense. We live in a fallen world, and sometimes we're a victim of other people's free will. And that can be difficult to understand in the moment. But when you lean into a community and you lean into what the Bible says is true, and when you look at people in the Bible who have faced significant trials, you can see that it leads you to a stronger place when you lean into God. And this is a woman in this movie who faces some things that could destroy her marriage and uproot her life. And you're watching this very vulnerable, beautiful story.
As we just mentioned, you have scripts that come your way, that come across your path. What was it about Finding Faith that made you want to take this part?
The first thing that I noticed about the project is that this woman's struggling with her marriage. I've been married for 14 years. I've been with my high school sweetheart for 20 years. We've had our ups and downs. Marriage can be really difficult. And I think that we live in a time where marriage has become disposable. There's a lot of people in my generation that don't know how to fight. It's easy for them to give up. And because of that, this movie was significant when I was reading it because this woman is fighting. They're fighting for their marriage. They're doing everything they can to try and make it work. And what you really need is Jesus at the center of it because for sure there are going to be moments in marriage where Jesus is the only way that you can get up in the morning and look at that person across from you and be like, I love you, but I don't like you right now.
When you've been married for a long time or even a short time, you're going to have those moments. And so, I was really drawn to the struggle of marriage. It's real. It's relatable for so many people. And even pursuing marriage, knowing that even as a Christian, it's not easy all the time.
How would you describe your character, Victoria, in Finding Faith? What can you tell me about her?
She can be headstrong at times. I think that she can sometimes want her own way, and that gets ahead of what God's timing may be for her life. She yearns for things. Why me God? Why not me, God? Why can't I have this? I've been honoring you with my gifts. Why hasn't this happened for me yet? Where are you in the midst of this? This tragedy is happening to me. Why is my marriage falling apart? And so, she is someone who's really learning to go back and reconnect with God and let her questions draw her closer instead of pushing her away.
So many times in life, God calls us to take a leap of faith in our lives, even when we don't want to. We don't want anything to do with it. In your character Victoria's case, what does that leap look like? Why was it important for her to do that?
Victoria takes some time alone to really focus on what's important, to kind of align with a more simplistic perspective. To look at life and say, what am I doing with my life? How am I impacting people? And a lot of times people take these kinds of quiet moments where they say, I'm going to wait on God. And what most people forget is that waiting is not a passive thing. Waiting is a moment for you to lean into God, lean into the Word, and prepare for the next step. It's not this passive, well, God's going to handle it type moments. Let me just sit around. It's a moment for you to prepare for what's coming next. And that's what she's doing along the way. Even though she's kind of got this strong hold, like butting heads with God. She is still leaning in and starting to observe the way that God is working in her life.
For me, this is a movie about finding purpose. Finding it in our lives and then using it to rebuild or reshape a present moment or a circumstance. Doing so will get us through to that next phase in our lives. Why is it so important for your character to not only refind herself or not wallow in it, but use this newfound purpose to move on and move forward?
There's a tremendous amount of pressure anytime that a Christian is in the spotlight, in my opinion. And Victoria is an advice columnist where people are seeking out answers regarding their faith, and they're sharing trials in their life. She has to learn from her own trial and be able to come back and say, I'm not perfect, so here's my answer for you. And a lot of times our testimony is what helps other people in their walk with (Jesus) Christ, being able to share the difficult moments where God pulls you out. I think that's what she does. She learns that she doesn't have to be perfect. She doesn't always have to have the right answer. That sometimes not having the right answer is the best answer to pull someone up and out of where they are.
After audiences have seen Finding Faith, what would you like to see audiences get out of the viewing experience? What's your greatest hope for the film?
I hope that they're encouraged to rediscover their own faith. That they can see that through difficult times, there is still hope no matter what they're going through. If they'll sit down and watch the movie, they can understand that we all face difficult things in our life. And I hope they're encouraged to rediscover and maybe even recommit their life to Christ and see that He's working in all the details. And when you are seeking His will, He does work all things for our good.
WATCH A TRAILER FOR FINDING FAITH:
