Diksha Sundriyal
Lifetime’s ‘Preach, Pray, Love’ portrays the power of rediscovering one’s faith. The story begins with a superstar rapper, Charlie Mega, getting arrested for multiple DUIs, in addition to hitting a police officer during an arrest. She has been on the spiral for some time, and finally seems to have reached her lowest point. In prison, she has enough time to reflect on her life and actions, leading her to seek the wisdom of faith. She is advised to visit a new church called Peachtree City of Faith, whose young pastor, Kyrus, seems to have left an indelible mark on many people. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Pastor and Church Touch Upon the Real Relevance of Faith
‘Preach, Pray, Love,’ written by Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan, is a fictional story featuring imaginary characters like Pastor Kryus. His church, Peachtree City of Faith, is also imaginary. The location is stitched together from different filming locations, including set locations, in Atlanta, Georgia, where the majority of the movie was shot. While the writers did not rely on a real-life pastor and his church to tell Kyrus’ story, the actor Mark J.P. Hood has a real-life parallel to the character. Hood’s father is a pastor, and he was brought up with religious and spiritual roots that deeply connect him to faith and God. His father’s position gave him a closer look at a pastor’s life, and that knowledge informed his performance in the Lifetime film.
Still, when Hood was offered the job, he didn’t immediately accept it. His work on the comedy-drama series ‘Churchy’ meant he had already explored a story tackling the struggles of a pastor. Having not read the script, he thought ‘Preach, Pray, Love’ would be along the same lines. He didn’t want to accept the role, believing that it would typecast him as an actor in faith-based movies. However, things cleared up after he found out more about the story. He realized it was more a story of love than of faith, and, having not worked on a romantic film before, he thought it would be a great way to expand his portfolio. What further interested him was the deeply grounded depiction of Kyrus.
Hood had seen how his father’s work as a pastor tended to change people’s perception of him. He noted that the role comes with a set of expectations about how a pastor should behave, what he should look like, and what choices he should make. The actor commented that people tend to put the pastor on a pedestal, not realizing that he, too, is human and therefore vulnerable to making mistakes and taking risks, just like anyone else. In the film, when people notice that Kyrus is falling for Charlie, they are so opposed to his choice of a life partner that they are ready to abandon the church. Hood liked how the script delved into this difficult aspect of leading a church flock.
This, combined with the politics of another pastor’s jealousy of Kyrus’ success, convinced Hood that the role was worth exploring. Above all, he was drawn to the character’s surety about love and his willingness to stand by his choices and not budge under pressure from others, no matter how well those people know him. On top of this, he infused the character with his keen sensibilities and breathed life into a complex, multi-layered person who feels all too real, despite being entirely fictional.
Read More: Is Charlie Mega Based on a Real Rapper? Is Evacade a Real Music Label?
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