January 24, 2023 • 24 mins
If you took a minute to read through Kelsey Grammer's bio, you'd see that when it comes to stage and screen, the man has done it all! His long and prestigious career includes acting, directing, producing and voice-over work, and he's taken home top honors and awards in all categories.
Beloved by millions for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane, today Kelsey joins us to talk about his portrayal of Pastor Chuck Smith in the movie, "Jesus Revolution", (in theaters everywhere February 24) which tells the story of the greatest spiritual awakening in American History. It's about one young hippie's quest, in the early 1970's, for belonging and liberation that leads not only to peace, love, and rock & roll, but also sets into motion a new counterculture crusade--a Jesus Movement--changing the course of history.
Come on in - then get tickets for "Jesus Revolution"! ~ Delilah
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Welcome to a brand new year and to
a brand new season of my podcast series, Love Someone
with Delilah. I hope the holidays found you reflecting on
some happy memories, enjoying some beautiful moments that will become
fond memories themselves. I hope a bid to fudge, just
(00:25):
like Sepia cookie or two, found their way to you
and it won't take anything like a new gym membership
to recover from that experience. I hope you did not
get the flu, the stomach flu that went through my family.
We're kicking off season five of Love Someone with Delilah
with a guest that has excelled at the highest level
(00:48):
in theater, in television, and in film as an actor, producer,
and a director. He has won six Emmy's, three Golden Globes,
a AGG Award, and a Tony Award, and he's been
nominated in each of these categories and unprecedented number of
(01:08):
times for his awe inspiring performances. You're gonna know who
it is when I tell you this. Dr Frasier Crane
on Cheers developed into the cornerstone of the Juilliard trained
actor's career. He played the celebrated character Dr Frasier Crane
in three different television series. He started on Cheers and
(01:31):
then Wings and then of course had his own show Frasier,
So that character lived over a span of twenty years,
tying the record for the longest running television character. Reading
through Kelsey Grammer's bio, it seems like there is nothing
this remarkable man hasn't done, and done very well by
the way in on and behind the stage and screen,
(01:54):
he is a legend. He has a long and prestigious
stage career as both an act and a producer. He
is an accomplished voice over artist playing the iconic character
Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons since He's also lent his
famous voice to iconic roles and toy story to Anastasia,
(02:17):
and he won his most recent Emmy Award as Blinky
in troll Hunters. Today, Kelsey Grammar is with us to
talk about a new project, his role as Pastor Chuck
Smith in the movie Jesus Revolution, which tells the story
of the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. Jesus Revolution
(02:40):
is the story of one young hippies quest in the
nineteen seventies for belonging and liberation that leads not only
to peace, love and rock and roll, but that sets
into motion a new counterculture crusade, a Jesus movement changing
the course of history. But before we dive into all that,
(03:01):
let me tell you about one of our podcast sponsors
that plays an amazing role in bringing these conversations to life.
For you. If you're going to wear glasses, there's one
brand of frames. I recommend you have to look for it,
but it's worth it. The brand is called Eyes of
Faith Optical. I discovered this brand, I fell in love
(03:23):
with their style of frames. I wear them every day
now and get so many compliments. It was only after
I discovered the beauty of their frames did I discover
the subtle message hidden on the inside of every frame,
a scripture from the Bible. Their purpose is not only
to provide you with a great frame, but to help
(03:45):
others too. Eyes of Faith Optical shares a generous amount
of the money they earn to improve the lives and
eyesight of so many others, many of them less fortunate
than you. And I see their frame and choose the
ones that make you feel great when you wear them.
EO F Optical dot Com is their website. You're gonna
(04:08):
love what you discover EO f optical dot com. So,
Kelsey Grammar, you are our guest on our new podcast,
season five of Love Someone with Delilah, and I was
so excited to talk to you because for twenty plus
years you played the character of a radio personality based
(04:30):
out of Seattle. Yes, and I am a radio personality
based out of Seattle. So that was my my first, um,
my first reason for being thrilled to talk to you.
But then last night I got a sneak peek of
The Jesus Revolution, watch the movie I did. They sent
(04:51):
me this sneak peek and I got to watch it
after I finished my radio show. And so the first
thing I thought about when I woke up this morning is, oh,
my gosh, I get to talk to Kelsey Grammer, who
played one of my favorite pastors, and it was wonderful.
I didn't know much about him, of course, until I
(05:13):
started to play the role. I ended up feeling quite
honored to be connected to this this movement and this
guy and to kind of have a chance to you know,
put it in my mouth because it just felt like
I was loaning myself to the whole idea and it
felt really beautiful. So how did that come about? Like?
How did you? Uh like, how did the whole thing?
(05:35):
How did it? Was it given birth? Well? I think
I was having dinner with the guy that runs lions Gate, uh,
several months before we started shooting, and he kept saying it, Look,
you look great, He said, you look great. What you
been doing? Well, I've been working out, you know, and
looking after kids. I mean, I have a batch of
kids that are, you know, still pretty young and how old?
(05:59):
Your youngest six? Me too? But what the hell are
we doing another one? We're gonna want to go again?
I think good for you? How many total? Seven? There's
never never enough, you know, kids, And I'm excited about that.
I don't. I don't hold with that, that prevailing wisdom
(06:20):
that says, well, you know, the earths, you know, running
out of space. If you fly over the entire globe,
the Earth is uninhabited. It is. I mean, there are
some places that are clearly overcrowded, but we can solve
it um anyway, That's that's an off glyde um. So
rumor came to me one day of there was a
(06:42):
part that John John Feldheimer wanted me to maybe consider playing,
and then I was actually what it was was sort
of I guess serendipitous. I spent an evening with a
group of friends and we were sort of doing a
meditation for that entire evening, and out of it came
(07:03):
this desire and me to do something that meant, something
that had a value other than simply just being an
actor or just being just winning a Grammy and you know,
you know I've done Okay, I'm proud of the work
I've done, but also there was a moment in my
life last year when I thought I'd like to do
something that has some significance beyond just entertaining. And that
(07:28):
morning the script fell into my lap and I uh
read it and I said thank you, wow, wow, Well,
I I was very impressed with the whole movie. And
I'm sitting there watching it going wait a second, that's Jesus,
that's my Jesus from the Chosen And then I was like,
(07:50):
oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, there's there's Matthew, Like
there was all these little Easter eggs hidden in there
that I was just like, Oh, he's wonderful, Jonathan is
It's wonderful he did. He's just a wonderful guy too. Well,
he came over to the house. We had a New
Year's Eve party. John John got up and saying, um,
(08:12):
dancing in the dark by Bruce Springsteen at our karaoke
bit and and at one point, he's so good. I
looked over at his girlment said he's wonderful, and girl said,
he used to be in a band. Well, I missed
the Jesus movement in life. It happened when I was
very young, and then I had my own Jesus movement
(08:36):
in my twenties, late twenties, early thirties. Um. And I
was cracking up when I was showing Pastor Chuck's house
and you were playing Pastor Chuck and there's all these
people living in your house and in your backyard, because
that is my life. And people think I'm afraid screaming
(08:56):
in the background right here, and that's what we're doing too.
And I think my favorite scene in the movie UM
was you were sitting in Pastor Chuck's house and you're
what The woman who played your wife shot you this
look like, what the hell are you doing? What have
(09:18):
you done? There's all these hippies in our house, and
the look on the face your face, the face of
Pastor Chuck, went from like confusion or dismay, and then
a smile crept across your face, just the subtlest of
(09:40):
little smiles. And then like, as I'm watching it, I'm
feeling God stir in my heart, and I'm going, this
is a movie. This is a movie. This is a movie.
But I could feel the spirit stirring in my heart
as I'm watching you play the part of a man
that clearly the spirit stirred in his heart. And then
you just broke into this beautiful, beautiful smile. And I
(10:06):
was sitting on my bed watching the movie weeping because
I thought, why can't people get that? They can? They can?
And it was so beautiful how you played this conservative um.
You know, you want everything, all your ducks lined up,
everything in their place in the house. You had your
(10:26):
perfect little family, and Chuck Smith did in real life.
And and then God broke in and said, oh no,
let's just let's just get real hair. Let's just get
real hair. Let's get rid of the form and the formality,
and let's yeah. And the movie showed that Kelsey in
(10:50):
such a beautiful way, you such a beautiful way. It
warmed me to realize, you know, in the moment, the
man was despairing his own choices at that time. He
wouldn't he didn't know where to turn. Of course, you know,
he was a man of God. But all of a sudden,
(11:10):
from a place where he had no anticipation what his
life was going to be, his life became clear and
he rang the bell, you know, he rang come to
come to church, come to worship, and to come through
this way. And it was just amazing. Yeah, there were
some beautiful, beautiful, beautiful moments. That was one. Another one
(11:32):
was where you were backstage and um Lonnie had departed
and then we're backstage and you said to your wife,
uh am, I am I going to be able to
do this? And she said, it's not about you. It's
not about you, It's about God. And again I was
(11:53):
sitting there crying because how many times in our life
do we think I don't have the skills to do
whatever this thing is is, and God's like, just step
aside and let me work through. Yeah, it is pretty interesting,
you know if you think about all the things, you know,
Jesus moment of doubt one of the things that you know,
Christ went through um and God always, you know, was
(12:14):
there saying, you know, you're gonna make it, You're gonna
make it, and you can take it. This is your
destiny and it's a magnificent thing. Yet he was always
there for them. And then and then of course in
that last moment of you know, forgive them and they
don't know what they do. I mean, what a magnificent moments,
What an extraordinary thing. Yeah, I have a hard time
praying that prayer when I'm upset. And then I think,
(12:37):
you know what, I'm not hanging on across. I don't
have a sword thrust in my side. I'm pretty comfortable.
I could probably work on this forgiveness thing a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
pretty instordable. So how did the how did the characters
from The Chosen get to be little Easter eggs on
(12:58):
the set? I don't really know. I mean, you know,
I haven't really seen that show. Oh you haven't seen
The Chosen. You're gonna have to binge watch The Chosen. Yeah.
I really like him Jonathan, and I think I love
his It is kind of his ministry to be in
this role somehow, you know, it's like it's what he's done.
(13:18):
It's what came to him, beautifully came to him. Well,
the character who is played by a young man named
Mr Patel I believe is his last name. I got
to meet these guys because I got to go to
the set um last summer. Uh, he's snuck in there.
And Quintus, who is everybody's arch enemy who watches The Chosen,
(13:39):
he's snuck in the set. I'm like their little easter
eggs all over the place that we're really fun, really
fun for me to watch. Um. But the the young
man who plays Greg Lori, Oh, terrific, brilliant. Yeah, he's wonderful,
funny and charming and and uh innocent, you know, and
(14:03):
tortured and he's wonderful. He's just a really good actor.
And not to give away the whole movie to my
listeners because I really want everyone to go see it
when it's released in February, but there's a scene in
there with his mom where he's singing to mama. Oh
yeah again. I was crying. I went through half a
(14:23):
roll of toilet paper. It's a beautiful. Yeah, it's you
guys just did a wonderful job. And I pray that
that everybody, whether you have a relationship with the Almighty
or not, if you're thinking about it, uh, whether you
live through the Jesus Revolution in the seventies or not.
(14:45):
It's just a lovely movie that is so well done
and it's historical. Yeah, it's a true story and it
really was in Time magazine. Yeah, maybe it's parts of
their fictionalized but maybe we've maybe we've gonna license in
a couple of spots in terms of the narrative. But
the story that's told happened. Yeah, it happened, and these
(15:06):
people existed, and we're playing people that you can go
look up their name in some book and say, oh,
that's him. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. And Greg Laurie
is still Greg Laurie, still out there going. He was
the New Year's Party too. And did he love it?
I think he loves it. Yes, I think he's very
much in love with it that they had a chance
to tell this story and his story is being told
(15:28):
in it. It's it's quite lovely. And the Chuck Smith story,
you know, this thing that Chuck did, it turns out
to be this great gift from God. You know, it's
it's like he he just sort of stepped out of
the way, finally said, Okay, here we go. Well, I've
been to the to the church. I've been to Calvary Chapel,
but I was not there when Chuck was there. But
(15:50):
what a legacy, and what a beautiful story, and what
a beautiful way to portray him. I'm just I'm happy
to talk to you. I'm thrill to know that you
are are keeping your quiverful, ma'am. I'm definitely doing. My
husband and I between us, we have twenty um. Wow, congratulations.
(16:10):
My good life is a magnificent gift. It is something
that uh, you know, I'd say, you know, it's it's
definitely definitely under assaulted and culturally in our in our
in our world. But no one I know who actually
has the opportunity to experience life regrets it. Amen. Amen,
it is a beautiful gift. We're getting caught up with
(16:33):
Kelsey Grammar today and we have more to talk about
right after. I give some props to one of our
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(17:37):
for t off your order. Do you have Kelsey Grammar
any hopes or prayers or dreams for the new year? Wow?
Just to live young, to live fall. I always I
always mentioned I'd like to live a little more um
conscious of God in my life, you know, always be
a little more aware of it in my life. But
(17:58):
I mean this came about probably because of that devotion
the previous year. Yeah, I would say, so, just a
little more intimacy with it and and you know, keep
up the search. I I love this experience this, this
relationship between earth man and God and children and children.
(18:19):
I can hear them and it's making my heart joyful.
Miner upstairs, my studio is hidden in my basement and
it's almost sound proof. Almost. Yeah, but I'm sorry about
this one. No, that's fine. As a mom, I can
tell when the cry is real, you know, and when
I have to bolt and help. Yeah. Well, thank you
(18:43):
for spending this time with us, Kelsey I. I hope
to meet you in person someday and give you a
big hug and tell me you how much I have
enjoyed your art for many, many years. Thank you so much. Thanks,
and tell everybody to go see Jesus. It's amazing. It's beautiful.
(19:03):
I do hope they see this the film. It's a
it's a wonderful film. I'll tell you a quick sideline
or sidebar. When I was sixteen, I was parked in
my car near the beach to sort of check out
the break because I grew up in Florida. Maybe i'd
go serving in the morning, so I usually did the
most mornings, uh, And it looked like a little northern
(19:24):
so I was starting to pull through it, so I
thought I'll probably go as I turned back and walked
up back up the beach, and moonlight was behind me,
and the girl just suddenly appeared and she was magnificent.
She was just absolutely beautiful. And she said, have you
met Jesus as well? Honestly I think I have so.
But I said, how how wonderful I will tell me
(19:45):
about your experienson She said, well, I'm born again, and uh,
I said, no, would you like to come to a
revival of meeting? And I said, well, honestly, I'm just
about to go home and get to bed. But what
a lovely invitation. And honestly, if if if I had
any angling, sort of callous of sort of understanding of
(20:06):
the situation before me, I mean, I probably would have
gotten anywhere she asked me to go. What I was,
I was a little bit focused on serving, which made
me a bit of a dweeb. I guess a lot
of a lot of a dweeb. Kelsey, that makes you,
as a teenager, a lot of a dweeb. But I
I did always I was always thinking about God and
Jesus and for whatever reason, and so I was, I
(20:30):
was ripe for you know, a living, breathing relationship with
what I what you sense is God, and what you
sense it maybe the Son of God. And you know
all all the stories in here, and um, sometimes they're
just not stories, it's just the truth. Which wasn't so
when she asked if I had met Jesus, I thought,
that's honestly, I think I may hap you nice. Nice.
(20:50):
There's a beautiful part in the movie where there are
miracles happening, and it was very subtle, but it was
as some who has seen miracles happen like that. I
thought it was very important and I love that you
guys didn't shy away from that. Yeah, yeah, well it's uh,
(21:10):
it's part of the story, so it needs to be
told and you can embrace it or scoff at it
if you want to. But when you slam into one
of these things that happens, and I've seen a couple
of things happen to myself in my own life even
that there's no other explanation for it. Amen, But God,
Elsie Grammar, thank you for spending time with us. Have
(21:32):
a blessed new Year and the best of luck. And
I can't wait to tell my listeners to go see
the movie. Thank you so much. Thank you Jesus Revolution
is in theaters everywhere beginning February. It's not as much
of a faith based movie as it is a historical
(21:53):
telling of a story about faith and revival. It brings
the historical events of the late sixties and early seventies
that led to the Jesus Movement to life. In the
nineteen seventies, young Greg Laurie is searching for all the
right things, but in all the wrong places, until he
meets Lonnie Frisbie, a charismatic hippie street preacher who actually
(22:16):
looked like Jesus in real life and in the movie.
Together with Pastor Chuck Smith, they opened the doors of
Smith's languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and
newfound love, leading to what Time magazine dubbed the Jesus Revolution.
It's an outstanding cast. The movie is amazing. Joel Courtney
as Greg Laurie, Jonathan Roomy, who plays Jesus in the
(22:41):
Chosen Might Like Favorite series Uh plays Lonnie Frisbee, Kimberly
Williams Paisley is Charlene Laurie, Anna Grace Barlow is Kathy Laurie,
and of course, Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith. It's
a movie about redemption. It's a movie about love and acceptance.
(23:02):
It's a movie about healing, and it's for folks who
felt like giving up on their faith altogether because they
kept wondering where's the love. The church is not perfect,
and Jesus Revolution shows a wide variety of faith experiences,
making it accessible and honest. Visit Jesus Revolution dot movie
to watch the trailer and get tickets for the early
(23:24):
access screening February twenty two. I was fortunate enough to
get a sneak peak viewing of the movie before talking
to Kelsey. But you can bet I'll be at the
theater with my family and friends to watch it on
the big screen in February. I hope you'll treat yourself
to the experience too, along with a big bucket of
greasy popcorn. In fact, I hope you treat yourself well
(23:45):
on several occasions in the upcoming year. Be kind, be
compassionate with yourself, Make your physical, emotional, and spiritual health
a priority so you're not running on empty. By doing so,
you'll have reserves to draw on during those times that
might be more challenging. But let's hope they are few
and far between. I've got another exciting season of love
(24:07):
someone coming your way. I'm so glad we have this
time together.
Welcome to Welcome to a brand new year and to
a brand new season of my podcast series, Love Someone
with Delilah. I hope the holidays found you reflecting on
some happy memories, enjoying some beautiful moments that will become
fond memories themselves. I hope a bid to fudge, just
(00:25):
like Sepia cookie or two, found their way to you
and it won't take anything like a new gym membership
to recover from that experience. I hope you did not
get the flu, the stomach flu that went through my family.
We're kicking off season five of Love Someone with Delilah
with a guest that has excelled at the highest level
(00:48):
in theater, in television, and in film as an actor, producer,
and a director. He has won six Emmy's, three Golden Globes,
a AGG Award, and a Tony Award, and he's been
nominated in each of these categories and unprecedented number of
(01:08):
times for his awe inspiring performances. You're gonna know who
it is when I tell you this. Dr Frasier Crane
on Cheers developed into the cornerstone of the Juilliard trained
actor's career. He played the celebrated character Dr Frasier Crane
in three different television series. He started on Cheers and
(01:31):
then Wings and then of course had his own show Frasier,
So that character lived over a span of twenty years,
tying the record for the longest running television character. Reading
through Kelsey Grammer's bio, it seems like there is nothing
this remarkable man hasn't done, and done very well by
the way in on and behind the stage and screen,
(01:54):
he is a legend. He has a long and prestigious
stage career as both an act and a producer. He
is an accomplished voice over artist playing the iconic character
Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons since He's also lent his
famous voice to iconic roles and toy story to Anastasia,
(02:17):
and he won his most recent Emmy Award as Blinky
in troll Hunters. Today, Kelsey Grammar is with us to
talk about a new project, his role as Pastor Chuck
Smith in the movie Jesus Revolution, which tells the story
of the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. Jesus Revolution
(02:40):
is the story of one young hippies quest in the
nineteen seventies for belonging and liberation that leads not only
to peace, love and rock and roll, but that sets
into motion a new counterculture crusade, a Jesus movement changing
the course of history. But before we dive into all that,
(03:01):
let me tell you about one of our podcast sponsors
that plays an amazing role in bringing these conversations to life.
For you. If you're going to wear glasses, there's one
brand of frames. I recommend you have to look for it,
but it's worth it. The brand is called Eyes of
Faith Optical. I discovered this brand, I fell in love
(03:23):
with their style of frames. I wear them every day
now and get so many compliments. It was only after
I discovered the beauty of their frames did I discover
the subtle message hidden on the inside of every frame,
a scripture from the Bible. Their purpose is not only
to provide you with a great frame, but to help
(03:45):
others too. Eyes of Faith Optical shares a generous amount
of the money they earn to improve the lives and
eyesight of so many others, many of them less fortunate
than you. And I see their frame and choose the
ones that make you feel great when you wear them.
EO F Optical dot Com is their website. You're gonna
(04:08):
love what you discover EO f optical dot com. So,
Kelsey Grammar, you are our guest on our new podcast,
season five of Love Someone with Delilah, and I was
so excited to talk to you because for twenty plus
years you played the character of a radio personality based
(04:30):
out of Seattle. Yes, and I am a radio personality
based out of Seattle. So that was my my first, um,
my first reason for being thrilled to talk to you.
But then last night I got a sneak peek of
The Jesus Revolution, watch the movie I did. They sent
(04:51):
me this sneak peek and I got to watch it
after I finished my radio show. And so the first
thing I thought about when I woke up this morning is, oh,
my gosh, I get to talk to Kelsey Grammer, who
played one of my favorite pastors, and it was wonderful.
I didn't know much about him, of course, until I
(05:13):
started to play the role. I ended up feeling quite
honored to be connected to this this movement and this
guy and to kind of have a chance to you know,
put it in my mouth because it just felt like
I was loaning myself to the whole idea and it
felt really beautiful. So how did that come about? Like?
How did you? Uh like, how did the whole thing?
(05:35):
How did it? Was it given birth? Well? I think
I was having dinner with the guy that runs lions Gate, uh,
several months before we started shooting, and he kept saying it, Look,
you look great, He said, you look great. What you
been doing? Well, I've been working out, you know, and
looking after kids. I mean, I have a batch of
kids that are, you know, still pretty young and how old?
(05:59):
Your youngest six? Me too? But what the hell are
we doing another one? We're gonna want to go again?
I think good for you? How many total? Seven? There's
never never enough, you know, kids, And I'm excited about that.
I don't. I don't hold with that, that prevailing wisdom
(06:20):
that says, well, you know, the earths, you know, running
out of space. If you fly over the entire globe,
the Earth is uninhabited. It is. I mean, there are
some places that are clearly overcrowded, but we can solve
it um anyway, That's that's an off glyde um. So
rumor came to me one day of there was a
(06:42):
part that John John Feldheimer wanted me to maybe consider playing,
and then I was actually what it was was sort
of I guess serendipitous. I spent an evening with a
group of friends and we were sort of doing a
meditation for that entire evening, and out of it came
(07:03):
this desire and me to do something that meant, something
that had a value other than simply just being an
actor or just being just winning a Grammy and you know,
you know I've done Okay, I'm proud of the work
I've done, but also there was a moment in my
life last year when I thought I'd like to do
something that has some significance beyond just entertaining. And that
(07:28):
morning the script fell into my lap and I uh
read it and I said thank you, wow, wow, Well,
I I was very impressed with the whole movie. And
I'm sitting there watching it going wait a second, that's Jesus,
that's my Jesus from the Chosen And then I was like,
(07:50):
oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, there's there's Matthew, Like
there was all these little Easter eggs hidden in there
that I was just like, Oh, he's wonderful, Jonathan is
It's wonderful he did. He's just a wonderful guy too. Well,
he came over to the house. We had a New
Year's Eve party. John John got up and saying, um,
(08:12):
dancing in the dark by Bruce Springsteen at our karaoke
bit and and at one point, he's so good. I
looked over at his girlment said he's wonderful, and girl said,
he used to be in a band. Well, I missed
the Jesus movement in life. It happened when I was
very young, and then I had my own Jesus movement
(08:36):
in my twenties, late twenties, early thirties. Um. And I
was cracking up when I was showing Pastor Chuck's house
and you were playing Pastor Chuck and there's all these
people living in your house and in your backyard, because
that is my life. And people think I'm afraid screaming
(08:56):
in the background right here, and that's what we're doing too.
And I think my favorite scene in the movie UM
was you were sitting in Pastor Chuck's house and you're
what The woman who played your wife shot you this
look like, what the hell are you doing? What have
(09:18):
you done? There's all these hippies in our house, and
the look on the face your face, the face of
Pastor Chuck, went from like confusion or dismay, and then
a smile crept across your face, just the subtlest of
(09:40):
little smiles. And then like, as I'm watching it, I'm
feeling God stir in my heart, and I'm going, this
is a movie. This is a movie. This is a movie.
But I could feel the spirit stirring in my heart
as I'm watching you play the part of a man
that clearly the spirit stirred in his heart. And then
you just broke into this beautiful, beautiful smile. And I
(10:06):
was sitting on my bed watching the movie weeping because
I thought, why can't people get that? They can? They can?
And it was so beautiful how you played this conservative um.
You know, you want everything, all your ducks lined up,
everything in their place in the house. You had your
(10:26):
perfect little family, and Chuck Smith did in real life.
And and then God broke in and said, oh no,
let's just let's just get real hair. Let's just get
real hair. Let's get rid of the form and the formality,
and let's yeah. And the movie showed that Kelsey in
(10:50):
such a beautiful way, you such a beautiful way. It
warmed me to realize, you know, in the moment, the
man was despairing his own choices at that time. He
wouldn't he didn't know where to turn. Of course, you know,
he was a man of God. But all of a sudden,
(11:10):
from a place where he had no anticipation what his
life was going to be, his life became clear and
he rang the bell, you know, he rang come to
come to church, come to worship, and to come through
this way. And it was just amazing. Yeah, there were
some beautiful, beautiful, beautiful moments. That was one. Another one
(11:32):
was where you were backstage and um Lonnie had departed
and then we're backstage and you said to your wife,
uh am, I am I going to be able to
do this? And she said, it's not about you. It's
not about you, It's about God. And again I was
(11:53):
sitting there crying because how many times in our life
do we think I don't have the skills to do
whatever this thing is is, and God's like, just step
aside and let me work through. Yeah, it is pretty interesting,
you know if you think about all the things, you know,
Jesus moment of doubt one of the things that you know,
Christ went through um and God always, you know, was
(12:14):
there saying, you know, you're gonna make it, You're gonna
make it, and you can take it. This is your
destiny and it's a magnificent thing. Yet he was always
there for them. And then and then of course in
that last moment of you know, forgive them and they
don't know what they do. I mean, what a magnificent moments,
What an extraordinary thing. Yeah, I have a hard time
praying that prayer when I'm upset. And then I think,
(12:37):
you know what, I'm not hanging on across. I don't
have a sword thrust in my side. I'm pretty comfortable.
I could probably work on this forgiveness thing a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
pretty instordable. So how did the how did the characters
from The Chosen get to be little Easter eggs on
(12:58):
the set? I don't really know. I mean, you know,
I haven't really seen that show. Oh you haven't seen
The Chosen. You're gonna have to binge watch The Chosen. Yeah.
I really like him Jonathan, and I think I love
his It is kind of his ministry to be in
this role somehow, you know, it's like it's what he's done.
(13:18):
It's what came to him, beautifully came to him. Well,
the character who is played by a young man named
Mr Patel I believe is his last name. I got
to meet these guys because I got to go to
the set um last summer. Uh, he's snuck in there.
And Quintus, who is everybody's arch enemy who watches The Chosen,
(13:39):
he's snuck in the set. I'm like their little easter
eggs all over the place that we're really fun, really
fun for me to watch. Um. But the the young
man who plays Greg Lori, Oh, terrific, brilliant. Yeah, he's wonderful,
funny and charming and and uh innocent, you know, and
(14:03):
tortured and he's wonderful. He's just a really good actor.
And not to give away the whole movie to my
listeners because I really want everyone to go see it
when it's released in February, but there's a scene in
there with his mom where he's singing to mama. Oh
yeah again. I was crying. I went through half a
(14:23):
roll of toilet paper. It's a beautiful. Yeah, it's you
guys just did a wonderful job. And I pray that
that everybody, whether you have a relationship with the Almighty
or not, if you're thinking about it, uh, whether you
live through the Jesus Revolution in the seventies or not.
(14:45):
It's just a lovely movie that is so well done
and it's historical. Yeah, it's a true story and it
really was in Time magazine. Yeah, maybe it's parts of
their fictionalized but maybe we've maybe we've gonna license in
a couple of spots in terms of the narrative. But
the story that's told happened. Yeah, it happened, and these
(15:06):
people existed, and we're playing people that you can go
look up their name in some book and say, oh,
that's him. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. And Greg Laurie
is still Greg Laurie, still out there going. He was
the New Year's Party too. And did he love it?
I think he loves it. Yes, I think he's very
much in love with it that they had a chance
to tell this story and his story is being told
(15:28):
in it. It's it's quite lovely. And the Chuck Smith story,
you know, this thing that Chuck did, it turns out
to be this great gift from God. You know, it's
it's like he he just sort of stepped out of
the way, finally said, Okay, here we go. Well, I've
been to the to the church. I've been to Calvary Chapel,
but I was not there when Chuck was there. But
(15:50):
what a legacy, and what a beautiful story, and what
a beautiful way to portray him. I'm just I'm happy
to talk to you. I'm thrill to know that you
are are keeping your quiverful, ma'am. I'm definitely doing. My
husband and I between us, we have twenty um. Wow, congratulations.
(16:10):
My good life is a magnificent gift. It is something
that uh, you know, I'd say, you know, it's it's
definitely definitely under assaulted and culturally in our in our
in our world. But no one I know who actually
has the opportunity to experience life regrets it. Amen. Amen,
it is a beautiful gift. We're getting caught up with
(16:33):
Kelsey Grammar today and we have more to talk about
right after. I give some props to one of our
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(17:37):
for t off your order. Do you have Kelsey Grammar
any hopes or prayers or dreams for the new year? Wow?
Just to live young, to live fall. I always I
always mentioned I'd like to live a little more um
conscious of God in my life, you know, always be
a little more aware of it in my life. But
(17:58):
I mean this came about probably because of that devotion
the previous year. Yeah, I would say, so, just a
little more intimacy with it and and you know, keep
up the search. I I love this experience this, this
relationship between earth man and God and children and children.
(18:19):
I can hear them and it's making my heart joyful.
Miner upstairs, my studio is hidden in my basement and
it's almost sound proof. Almost. Yeah, but I'm sorry about
this one. No, that's fine. As a mom, I can
tell when the cry is real, you know, and when
I have to bolt and help. Yeah. Well, thank you
(18:43):
for spending this time with us, Kelsey I. I hope
to meet you in person someday and give you a
big hug and tell me you how much I have
enjoyed your art for many, many years. Thank you so much. Thanks,
and tell everybody to go see Jesus. It's amazing. It's beautiful.
(19:03):
I do hope they see this the film. It's a
it's a wonderful film. I'll tell you a quick sideline
or sidebar. When I was sixteen, I was parked in
my car near the beach to sort of check out
the break because I grew up in Florida. Maybe i'd
go serving in the morning, so I usually did the
most mornings, uh, And it looked like a little northern
(19:24):
so I was starting to pull through it, so I
thought I'll probably go as I turned back and walked
up back up the beach, and moonlight was behind me,
and the girl just suddenly appeared and she was magnificent.
She was just absolutely beautiful. And she said, have you
met Jesus as well? Honestly I think I have so.
But I said, how how wonderful I will tell me
(19:45):
about your experienson She said, well, I'm born again, and uh,
I said, no, would you like to come to a
revival of meeting? And I said, well, honestly, I'm just
about to go home and get to bed. But what
a lovely invitation. And honestly, if if if I had
any angling, sort of callous of sort of understanding of
(20:06):
the situation before me, I mean, I probably would have
gotten anywhere she asked me to go. What I was,
I was a little bit focused on serving, which made
me a bit of a dweeb. I guess a lot
of a lot of a dweeb. Kelsey, that makes you,
as a teenager, a lot of a dweeb. But I
I did always I was always thinking about God and
Jesus and for whatever reason, and so I was, I
(20:30):
was ripe for you know, a living, breathing relationship with
what I what you sense is God, and what you
sense it maybe the Son of God. And you know
all all the stories in here, and um, sometimes they're
just not stories, it's just the truth. Which wasn't so
when she asked if I had met Jesus, I thought,
that's honestly, I think I may hap you nice. Nice.
(20:50):
There's a beautiful part in the movie where there are
miracles happening, and it was very subtle, but it was
as some who has seen miracles happen like that. I
thought it was very important and I love that you
guys didn't shy away from that. Yeah, yeah, well it's uh,
(21:10):
it's part of the story, so it needs to be
told and you can embrace it or scoff at it
if you want to. But when you slam into one
of these things that happens, and I've seen a couple
of things happen to myself in my own life even
that there's no other explanation for it. Amen, But God,
Elsie Grammar, thank you for spending time with us. Have
(21:32):
a blessed new Year and the best of luck. And
I can't wait to tell my listeners to go see
the movie. Thank you so much. Thank you Jesus Revolution
is in theaters everywhere beginning February. It's not as much
of a faith based movie as it is a historical
(21:53):
telling of a story about faith and revival. It brings
the historical events of the late sixties and early seventies
that led to the Jesus Movement to life. In the
nineteen seventies, young Greg Laurie is searching for all the
right things, but in all the wrong places, until he
meets Lonnie Frisbie, a charismatic hippie street preacher who actually
(22:16):
looked like Jesus in real life and in the movie.
Together with Pastor Chuck Smith, they opened the doors of
Smith's languishing church to an unexpected revival of radical and
newfound love, leading to what Time magazine dubbed the Jesus Revolution.
It's an outstanding cast. The movie is amazing. Joel Courtney
as Greg Laurie, Jonathan Roomy, who plays Jesus in the
(22:41):
Chosen Might Like Favorite series Uh plays Lonnie Frisbee, Kimberly
Williams Paisley is Charlene Laurie, Anna Grace Barlow is Kathy Laurie,
and of course, Kelsey Grammer as Pastor Chuck Smith. It's
a movie about redemption. It's a movie about love and acceptance.
(23:02):
It's a movie about healing, and it's for folks who
felt like giving up on their faith altogether because they
kept wondering where's the love. The church is not perfect,
and Jesus Revolution shows a wide variety of faith experiences,
making it accessible and honest. Visit Jesus Revolution dot movie
to watch the trailer and get tickets for the early
(23:24):
access screening February twenty two. I was fortunate enough to
get a sneak peak viewing of the movie before talking
to Kelsey. But you can bet I'll be at the
theater with my family and friends to watch it on
the big screen in February. I hope you'll treat yourself
to the experience too, along with a big bucket of
greasy popcorn. In fact, I hope you treat yourself well
(23:45):
on several occasions in the upcoming year. Be kind, be
compassionate with yourself, Make your physical, emotional, and spiritual health
a priority so you're not running on empty. By doing so,
you'll have reserves to draw on during those times that
might be more challenging. But let's hope they are few
and far between. I've got another exciting season of love
(24:07):
someone coming your way. I'm so glad we have this
time together.
Host
Delilah
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