Kevin Sorbo: Part 2

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Stories of hopelessness turned into hope. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Welcome back to the Man Up show.

It's time to man up. Your host, Nikita Kolov, The Devil's Nightmare, and kicking down hell's doors and building the Kingdom of God. That's what we're here to do. I'm going to welcome back this week a guest who there was just so much to talk about, we couldn't squeeze it into one show.

Of course, I'm referring to Kevin Sorbo, the storied actor. Kevin, welcome back to the Man Up show. Good to be back. I'm ready to rock this one thing. I love that you're going to give me a chance to sort of tell my journey and kind of the movies I've been doing lately.

Yeah, I want to jump into that really. For those who maybe missed part one, go back into the archives, listen to part one. You are going to want to hear, one, how Kevin and I connected after 39 years. So I'm just going to kind of leave it at that for you to, well, what is that story? Go back and listen to part one and some of Kevin's personal life and then transition from his early days out to Hollywood and into the acting career.

So let me just, Kevin, let me just open with this question. So I know you said, you know, you were a marketing major in college, but you did a minor in drama. And so have you always kind of had a, like maybe even back in high school or junior high or like a passion for acting or how, when did that happen?

Well, you'll know what I'm talking about here. In fifth grade, we had a field trip to the Guthrie Theater. And for those who don't know, the Guthrie Theater is the very famous theater in Minneapolis. Another little stat, people don't know there's more theater per capita in Minneapolis, St. Paul than there is on Broadway in New York.

Minneapolis, St. Paul really embraces the arts. And so we went to see The Merchant of Venice. And here I was 11 years old at Shakespeare.

I don't know what the hell they were saying because it was Shakespeare, but I was totally mesmerized, totally mesmerized by the actors on stage. So on the way home, my mom on the bus, my mom was one of the chaperones and she said, what do you think? And I said, I'm going to be an actor one day, mom.

And she looked at me and gave me a little pat on the leg and she says, that's nice, dear. Real nice, son. That's good, son. But, but you know, I mean, you know, I'm, you know, being a jock and all that kind of stuff, there comes, there comes some, you know, the stigma with that, with a jock wanting to go into a drama class. Right, right.

A bunch of sissies, right? Right, yes. So I would always, I didn't do anything until I got to college, really. I mean, I would go to all the school plays that people were doing. I remember talking to Mr. G, Mr. Gulberson was the theater drama coach teacher in my high school in Mound there, in Manistoc High School.

And I'd ask him questions because we should jump in here, Kevin. You know, because if I told my, my football and basketball buddies, I wanted to take drama class, they would have gave me such a hard time. You know, I was, I was, I was, you know, I had to come out of the thespian closet, you know, so when I got to college, it just, I was like, you know, college sort of gives you a chance to not really reinvent yourself, but maybe say, okay, this is who I am now.

You know, I mean, most of the people here don't know me, so I'm not going to sit there and pretend to be stuck in this, you know, sort of class that, the cliques that we all have all through junior high school. So that just sort of changed for me, but it was always there for me. It was always there for me. And I started doing, another thing a lot of people don't realize is all the national headquarters in Minneapolis, St. Paul.

You got Pillsbury, 3M, Best Buy, Target, Dairy Queen, gosh, General Mills. So I got that all-important Screen Actors Guild Card by doing commercials during, during my college years. Wow.

Yeah. So it was great for me. I mean, I was doing commercials all the time.

Sometimes I'd book them and I'd drive, have to drive down from, from, you know, Moorhead State to go where I was, you know, where you and I were at college to go do a commercial. And it was great. And that, you know, anytime you can be in front of the camera, it was just kind of like a good school for me. So that's how that whole thing even came, came about for me. That's how it evolved. That's, that's pretty amazing.

So there were, that's cool. Guthrie Theater kind of, I don't know, save it, planted a seed, but maybe it kind of, there was already a seed, a desire in you. And that just, that just brought it more to the forefront.

Right. And I got to tell you this too, cause this is funny too. And for those who listen to the first, first show, well, they'll understand this more, but, but I, in my mind, when I was first introduced to you through the Moorhead State alumni newsletter, I thought, again, how, how did I not, how did I not know this guy? Oh, he's an actor.

In my mind, I thought, oh, he's an actor. I'm, I'm down on the jock end of the campus. Like you just said, he's up on the drama end of the campus. Well, that makes sense then. That's why we never ran into each other, but then come to find out you're in the gym all the time. And then obviously with the, with the Hercules and the physique and all that, it just still just kind of blows my mind. We didn't meet.

But okay. So, so that gives a little backstory, a little backdrop on, on kind of what led, uh, in, into your acting career. You go out to LA, you make it, make the decision to move out to LA. And, and, uh, it did, at what point did you go from, from commercials to like, what did you first land? What was your, maybe your first big, you know, uh, um, show or, or movie that you landed?

Well, I gotta, I'll give you a quick, uh, quick overview of the timeline for me. So, uh, my last year in college, I met, uh, I met this, uh, girl, big time model. She was gorgeous, stunning. She's from Brooklyn center and, uh, we felt each other right away. And I, I moved after college, I moved down to Dallas, Texas with her and I, two, two, my high school buddies were down there playing football at SMU with Craig James and Eric Dickerson. And, um, so I went down there roomed with one of my buddies, Jeff, who was a two time runner up 400 meter chain, uh, in, in the, in, in high school at the, he kept, he lost the same guy both times out of Jefferson. And, um, uh, he, um, we hit it off.

We were all good buddies, all through school. So we roomed together down there. And, um, I spent about a year and a half in Dallas doing a lot of commercial work. I signed with an agency down there called Kim Dawson. I was doing small plays down there, 99 seat theaters and stuff like that. And then my girlfriend said, okay, I'm going to go to Europe now. Do you want to come with? And I said, well, you know, we're going to get to LA and she goes, just come spend a summer in Italy with me.

I thought, well, why not? So three months, three months in Europe turned into three and a half years. I stayed for three and a half years. I was doing a lot of print work, a lot of commercial work. I lived in Milan for eight months. I did a lot of work with Johnny Versace, who just loved me. Um, I put me on all of his shows, all of his fashion shows with women because being six, three, a lot of these women at high heels are six, one, six, two, and all the other model guys were like five, nine, five, 10. And then I went to Paris for six months and then Munich for a year and a half.

Munich was great for me. I did a lot of commercials and then I finally make it to LA and I was in LA not more than, not more than a week. And I booked my very first audition that sent me down to Sydney, Australia. So I stayed in Sydney for six months. I did, uh, I did, uh, seven commercials during that time to two plays in Sydney. So when I finally get back to LA to really pursue it, I'm already 27 years old. I'm pretty much on the road for over five years. And, um, it was, um, it was amazing though. It was an amazing journey for me that made me grow up a lot quicker, I think by doing the things that I did.

So, um, you know, I just, I just plugged away. I got, I got a lot of guest spots on TV shows and a lot of commercials, but then obviously when I got the Hercules role, they had seven auditions for it. They call me back seven times. They auditioned 2,800 actors all over North America. And, uh, when I finally got the role that sent me down to New Zealand, it was going to be one year just doing five tomorrow movies.

I got to do a whole year with Anthony Quinn. Um, here's a guy that's one, you know, two Academy awards, best actor awards, and he played Zeus. And then, uh, they, the series became a monster hit by season three. And I did seven years on that. And then I did five years on a series after that up in Vancouver called Andromeda, where it was, uh, I played captain Dylan Hunt, the first captain created after captain Kirk by Gene Roddenberry.

And that was a huge hit in 150 countries. And, uh, both that 12 years right there really set the foundation for me in terms of being in Hollywood and having a solid name in Hollywood. And from then since then, I've just been doing a bunch of movies.

Well, yeah, I get, and I think you're right. And for those who maybe have never traveled or haven't traveled much, or certainly when you travel international, the way you just described, which is phenomenal, by the way, I mean, just, just what you just shared was what, what, uh, what a storied career, uh, in just that short span of time, but it'll grow you up for sure. I mean, when you travel international, because you get to see how other cultures are, how other people live.

And, and, you know, I've been so far, I've been to 30 different countries and many, many third world countries I've traveled and done a lot of ministry and, uh, preaching and crusades, revivals, and, and just humanitarian type of work and orphanages, et cetera. And man, you, you, you learn real quick. Uh, you, like you said, you grow up, uh, much quicker than if you never do that, you know? And, and so that's, that's, that's just fascinating. And, and so you launch into, so you have this, and by the way, I, and looking up your, you just mentioned a few television show, but I mean, the list of your television show, it's just, it's, it's too long to name them all, but there's a bunch of people can go research it and find out what all, I mean, everything from, I saw things from first and 10 to Santa Barbara, to cheers to murder.

She wrote to the commish to, I mean, it just goes on and on and on. Uh, as far as you mentioned, you mentioned first, you mentioned first and 10. So that was the first original one hour programming from HBO, nor the cable was, you know, cables everywhere now, but back then HBO was just like a handful.

There's only a few cable outlets. Right. And so that was the very first one hour show.

And, uh, here it, here it is. I'm playing a football player. So I was playing a wide receiver.

Yeah. And I would be on there with OJ Simpson and Lauren Taylor and we would sit there, um, during breaks in the show, we'd be in the football field cause we've all liked golf. We would sit there with our wedges from one, one end zone to the other. So you're hitting 20 yard wedge shots and you're trying to get it between the goalposts on the other side of the football field. So that was what we did there. It's kill time in between camera set up. So that launched the, of course the television career and then that, so the television career parlayed you into the movie career.

Is that what you're saying? We so appreciate our listeners. If you will support this program with a financial gift of any amount, I will send you a personalized copy of my latest book, Nikita, a tale of the ring and redemption. Go to colof.net that's colof.net colof.net and make your contribution today. Nikita Koloff here.

If you're needing to buy a car and have marginal credit and considering using buy here, pay here that's worse than taking the Russian sickle. Winston-Salem motor cars will put you behind the wheel of a car you can rely on while helping rebuild repair or establish your credit score. Conveniently located on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem. Be sure to check them out today at wsmc1.com because you are number one. Oh, no question. I started doing movies right away when the Andromeda finished in 2005. I was out of America for like 10 months a year from 1993 to 2005 with the two series and then once I got back to the states I just wanted to do an independent movie. I just wanted to do movies and I shot over 67 at this point. I've got another three line up right now but I started doing everything from independent movies to hallmark movies like westerns which I love doing westerns. I think every guy wants to do westerns because of the cowboy animal. John Wayne that's right we got to be the Duke. There's no question but 2010 was really a turning point for me because you know it got to a point where I started getting a little more vocal on the set when people would sit there and bash this that and the other things and I said well why can't we have another opinion you know what's going on this is like the precursor to the cancel culture in the woke world out there right and it was starting to happen on that and I was saying well what do you mean by that if you make some comment that's so negative and hateful I said well why can't someone be conservative why can't someone have a faith in God what is your negative about that and so in 2010 a buddy of mine Dallas Jenkins who people might know the work he's doing now in the chosen the chosen yeah so Dallas is the son of Derry Jenkins he was one of the writers along with LaHey on the left behind movie which by the way I'm prepping for the next left behind movie now I'll be directing and acting that up in Canada in October and November so I'm prepping that movie as we speak but he came to me with a script it's called what if and I read it we're friends our kids are the same age as mine and I said who's playing past the bend in this movie he starts listing guys names I said no no I'm playing this role he said dude I can't afford you we're such a low-budget movie I said I don't care this movie is unbelievable awesome well I shot the what if movie and that was my really my first faith-based movie and another movie I was from pureflix and the next one I did with those guys was god's not dead which of course became a massive hit but I in my mind what if is a better movie than god's not dead it's all a matter of these independent movies how do they get the best word of mouth because it's tough to you know compete against hollywood 300 million dollar movies right if you get it yeah please see it same writers that did god's not dead but whatever you check it out but that opened the door for me to want to do more movies that had a positive impact instead of all the hate and anger and violence coming in all the movies that all we see right now that's all you get I want to do movies that have you know have some faith hope love redemption and laughter in them yeah and for for and there's people out there there's an audience out there starving for that right hungry for that and and so 67 movies and and and working on three more presently and let me ask you quick sub brings up an issue that leads me actually into a question kind of I think we finished show one talking about this but so hollywood and and obviously you being more outspoken as a believer as a christ follower tough to tough to be an outspoken christian christ follower in hollywood yeah oh yeah big time and by by 2012 my agent manager called me in the office and said we can't work with anymore and I said why well I said because well because they they want to stay straight up but it was really because I was christian and a conservative right that was the only reason and I looked at him I said wow and you guys are the ones through the press all the time are screaming for um you know people on the people on the right and the crazy christians that have tolerance when you have but the reality is you don't have tolerance but you see it played out now I mean it's been like crazy the last decade right the hypocrisy that comes from that world um they it's do as they say but not as I do and that's their mentality and I found that sad because I don't harbor that hate and anger towards a liberal or towards an atheist I have atheist friends I have agnostic friends right I do too we still go out yeah we still go out and golf and have a beer but I I don't harbor that anger that comes from so many people towards people like you and me we get attacked all the time well which which yeah which only only better illustrates I mean when you have the love of God in you God is love right so when you have the love of God in you then you can open your arms just as Jesus did illustrated hello on the cross and embrace anybody and everybody as he illustrated you by the way I just um you mentioned the chosen and Dallas Jenkins shout out to Dallas Jenkins and kudos to to I've watched believe it or not people are probably going to think I'm crazy making this statement and I only did this not because I was bored or had too much time on my hands I I did this because of how well the show is I watched season one Kevin seven different times like I'm talking all eight episodes seven and I learned something new and for me I'm a visual guy I mean I love reading the bible love reading the word the logos and then when it comes to life and it becomes Rhema and lives and dwells in me it's written on the tablet of my heart and but at the same time I'm visual so I love you know the shows you you're working on the movies and things you're doing as well as Dallas and others because it just it resonates with me when I can see it it just brings it that much more to life I kind of compare to when I did a pilgrimage about I guess maybe about 10 years ago to uh to Israel you may remember the name the million dollar man Ted DiBiase and Ted and I and another wrestler friend the three of us did a 11-day pilgrimage to Jordan and to Israel and I was just I was impacted I mean I in my mind I'm walking streets that Jesus walked I'm sailing the Sea of Galilee looking at the Golan Heights going Jesus had to look see the same thing with his eyes and and I got over emotional a number of times um but but all that all that said so you know in in in my mind I'm thinking you know when we're embracing anybody whether you said an atheist an agnostic uh somebody who doesn't believe the way we believe or I'm like I'm not gonna unfriend you I'll still be your friend even though we don't agree I'm still gonna love you and still be your friend right I mean that's what we're called to do right as Christ followers exactly we're called to harvest that's just crazy to me and I'm not sitting there you know what I I understand some of the atheists you know my friends are arguing to me that Christians you think you're so perfect all the time not everyone but there are people that think they're holier than thou and I tell people before and I speak at Christian education I think at universities that are Christian universities and I say you know what guys there's a reason there's that there's a bible verse and they're saying you know don't look at a speck in your brother's eye but look at the log in your own right we do we're the ones who's supposed to be the most forgiving and a lot of times we can be the least forgiving we got to find a place to do that I'm gonna jump back to Dallas because I've been giving him a hard time he and I ran each other recently at the nrb the national religious broadcasters yep Dallas event and I and we're still good friends and I said dude there's no reason why you shouldn't put me in that yeah come on Dallas yeah so put me in there because we have not worked together in 11 years I said it's time to work together again but I gotta tell you just mentioned Israel I've been doing a lot of documentaries lately and I gotta plug these I hope your listeners write these things down one is called before the wrath before the wrath like the wrath of god yeah it's on the book of revelation I narrated it was the number one documentary in amazon for five months this year it's phenomenal the other one is I spent I spent time shooting a documentary with John Lennox if they don't know John Lennox is he's a retired math professor from Oxford University he's an apologist he's the beta doc and pitch and singer all the great atheists of the world we shot three weeks in Oxford England and two weeks in Israel and it's called it's called against the tide go to against the tide dot movie and order that documentary it's amazing it's by proving god in a world of science and I'm on camera with them I also narrate it but really John is the rock star here this guy is so amazing and like you said we walked the footsteps of Jesus and that's and we went back we went back six months later with my wife with a group of 50 people and if people want to join us next next march we're going to get a march to Israel to walk again in the footsteps of Jesus go to sorbo studios.com to sign up sorbo studios.com we're going to take in the first 50 people and I'll tell you what it is so amazing as you mentioned you can I don't care you can be an atheist the history is there even the most powerful atheists in the world admit the other one's a man named Jesus you can't deny that yep so go there and check it out for if anything just for the history behind it it's really really spectacular that's amazing yeah and you can't go there and not be impacted I don't care who you are yeah you can't go to Israel not be impacted hey uh Kevin just talk you you made reference to so so you do in a day in addition to your movies and directing producing and starring roles and you and your wife and family and your children um so you do go out and and and and speak as well and take take a couple take 30 seconds and tell people what you're doing on the speaking circuit. I do a lot of speaking events in fact I just came back from Dallas last week and I spoke at a human trafficking event but most of my speaking is on Christian education or pro-life I do a lot of pro-life speaking and I just signed on with some people now to do some pro-life narration it's going to be impactful instead of showing the horrors of what abortion looks like through reality they're going to use it through animation we've got amazing animators from the Disney and Universal that have jumped ship and want to be part of this it's going to be very amazing for people to see this and by the way I'm heading back to Jordan and Israel in January I'm doing another documentary there I'll be narrating and I'll be in camera where they've just unearthed in Jordan what they now have found out is the oldest temple through an archaeological dig that they've ever found so we're going to talk about that one I've got another documentary that just came out dealing with this whole thing about systemic racism and all this kind of stuff yeah and I think people will find it very interesting to hear what what the other side has to say about that so the the oh and I just finished doing the documentary on Pat Robertson's life so I've been very fortunate to be involved a lot of wonderful wonderful documentaries that I have all found documentaries educational and I've been proud to be part of a lot of these going on right now man I gotta go back one more time come on the guys that did the guys that did before the wrath go to before the wrath.com I just finished narrating their next one that's coming out Easter next year and it's called eating with the enemy and it deals with the last supper and I think people will get a better look at what the disciples were all about I love the title eating with the enemy because there was a guy named Judas in there right yep so I think people will find this document are very fascinating coming out Easter next year well you have uh and and little side note here in addition to to all that Kevin's involved in and we didn't go he's got video games too I just want to make a plug for that there's a ton of ton of them out there go go check out some of the video games I mean everything from I'm looking up like god of war 3 skylanders giants skylanders superchargers imaginators and and all of that go check out some of his video games too but we got just a couple minutes left here Kevin and and my goodness you have uh you've given the audience some some really great uh some really great stories some things to check out and and you're making a difference you I'm just man I couldn't be more blessed to be able to have this conversation with you and and be able to let others know about how you are making a difference with with your life and impacting god's kingdom whether it's through movies or television video games speaking documentaries and I can't I just can't thank you enough for carving some time out and being up on the man up show oh had a blast man and we're gonna have to hook up down the road here are you in charleston where you at again uh so I'm I'm based out of the carolinas um I've been to the carolinas longer now than anywhere else so all my minnesotan listeners we'll talk off we'll talk off mike here but I'm coming to speak up there soon so I'll let you know I'm coming maybe we'll be in the same neighborhood I hope so it's only a matter of time al before our paths cross and we come close we've come close uh in fact I was almost at the nrb in in dallas I'll be at the one next year in nashville we'll see each other there for sure one stop shop your website course has your wife's books and okay so get what's the website again where people can find out more about you it is sorbo studios.com sorbo studios.com and I'll make this really quick my first book true strength is on there true strength feels close through a health crisis that I went through personally myself so it's quite a great great story about what I went through at the end of season five in hercules I had an aneurysm that I didn't know about that was in my left shoulder sending blood claps down on my arm and couldn't figure out what had so much pain there and unfortunately when it opened up it sent four claps into my brain I suffered four strokes took me three years to fully recover from it wow took me five months to learn how to walk and balance myself again so the subtitle of true strength is my journey from hercules the mere mortal and how nearly dying saved my life so I hope people check out that book wow go to his website and learn more about kevin sorbo and his beautiful bride sam and and uh I hope you were blessed by not only this conversation but part one if you missed that go back and listen to part one again and and let me just say this for you listening out there maybe you know maybe you've never surrendered your life to jesus and and you heard some some of what kevin's doing how god's using him in such a mighty way I'd encourage you make that decision to surrender your life to to jesus today and if you have surrendered your life here's here's my challenge as I close out this show today my challenge to you what are you doing what what are you doing with your life to impact uh the kingdom of heaven god's kingdom and what are you doing to damage the kingdom of darkness which your wanted post is your wanted poster in hell with your picture on it you know are you are are you are you disturbing the enemy that much that he's aware of who you are he knew who paul was he knew who jesus was does he know who you are kevin thanks for being on the man up show my pleasure it's great great to have this time with you and uh let's do it again down the road all right tune in again next time for another great episode of the man up show it's time to man up chateau time men I would like to challenge each of you to consider spending five days with lex luger and I at man camp pursuing the heart of god ladies if you're listening we'll send your men home better equipped to be men of god godly husbands and godly fathers that appeals to you give them your blessing and encourage them to sign up today at man camp dot info pastors if you would like to bring koloff for christ ministries and man up conference to your community go to koloff.org and email me remember this it's time to man up nakita koloff the russian nightmare here for crescent automotive if buying a car is a nightmare for you my friends brian and jamie johnson at crescent automotive make it simple to find your pre-owned dream car with no hassle affordable windshield pricing no matter where you live they will get your american dream car to you baby drive crescent.com is all you need to know their whole inventory is right there with the right price everybody drives a crescent you should too drive crescent.com all feet agree clement's carpet is where you need to be with carpet vinyl tile and hardwood from the top brands clement's carpet does it 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