Disney Star David Henrie UNLOADS On Kids' Programming Today

0:00So if you're like me, you probably grew up watching Disney Channel and you probably know my next guest as Justin Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place. He's gone from Child Start, Actor, Director, Producer, and maybe most importantly, outspoken man of faith. And there is a lot to catch up on from growing up in Hollywood and the future of family and entertainment, faith, fatherhood, and life beyond Disney. David Henry joins me and it's great to have you. Great to be on. Thank you so much for having me. Good to see you. It's great to see you too. I know that you're in New York right now. So and I, and you're, you're in where I spend my weekends, but I'm here in Nashville and I'm very excited to talk to a Disney star because like I said, I grew up watching you. I feel like you and I are probably close to the same age, but I still grew up watching you because you were a child star. For those of us that grew up millennials watching Disney, do you get that a lot where people stop you and they tell you all about like their memories of growing

1:02up with you on TV? Yeah, it's some, I mean, as we walked into this building, I met quite a few people that were walking out to lunch and the millennials are wonderful and Gen Z. You know, back when we were growing up, Tommy, there was really only a couple channels to watch. You know, you had Disney, you had Nickelodeon, maybe Cartoon Network, and that was kind of, that was kind of it. So like that, that was an end of an era where we had something that we physically sat down and watched. It wasn't in our hands. And as I get older, it's kind of, it's just kind of crazy that those childhood memories have remained in the fans of the, the show or now in the workforce. So I'm meeting, my wife is always like laughing because she's like, I feel like more and more people know you every year and I'm like, no, they're just not kids anymore and they're now in the workforce. So I see them when we're out in public, but it brings a smile to my face every time. I had some bad experiences with people I looked up to when I was a kid. They didn't give me an autograph and like, now anyone who ever comes up to me, I'm always like, I'll do, you know, I'll talk to them

2:04till they're, till they're satisfied and take pictures and all that. I'm very grateful like for for what it, that what the show is done and how you put the smile and people's faces like that's, that's why I do this. And you know, people are rediscovering a lot of these shows as well. And I think Gen Z is discovering these shows. They were probably aware of it, but pretty young and like nostalgia is big right now. People want to go back to that time. They want to go back to like 2002, 2003, 4, 5. That is where we all kind of wish we were now for a lot of reasons. But you mentioned, you know, watching Disney channel for me, like I grew up in South Dakota, okay, not a ton to do, but I would come home and watch Disney channel and you had to wait for Friday night for the show to come on, you know, like you had to watch it and then DVR became a thing and then you could rewatch it. But early on, like you had to be there watching it when it was on and it was something that you just didn't miss. And I think a lot of people are yearning for that time where they had something that they had to wait for and it wasn't at their fingertips and it

3:08brought like an excitement. And I think that we're all looking for that again. Completely, completely. Yeah, you know, in a world where you get everything immediately, it loses its savor very quickly, you know, and you desire something else. Like my wife just gotten a bidding war over a VCR TV and for our kids because we're like, we so don't want to deal with the screens and anything. So we're like, all right, we're going to get a VCR TV with a bunch of old movies and to your point about wanting to go back to a time, a different time of past time, she was in a freaking bidding war over a TV with the VCR at the VHS, you know, and like she wanted, couldn't believe what she paid for it, but she was in a massive bidding war. So yes, I think you're seeing this broader cultural movement where people are wanting to get away from the noise or they're finding a dissatisfaction with the distractions of the world. Yeah, and you've been somebody who's been, you know, more outspoken than a lot of your co-stars and other people on Disney Channel about your

4:10faith. And I think that probably plays in so your lifestyle now as well. But, you know, I got to be honest, there are a lot of people that come from a Disney background that they can't wait to put Disney in the background. I, you know, you, Miley Cyrus, probably being one of those people that most people know, like trying to ditch the Disney image. And I would think maybe to an extent, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, others that are maybe kind of returning to in a sense now. But at one point, really wanted to get away from Disney or being known from Disney. Like, why do you think that that would be? You know, a lot of us going through that were really young, you know, we're teenagers at the time. And you have all these visions and ideas for what you want your career to be. And as you're coming out of Disney, a lot of times you want to take your career in a certain direction. You want to go do movie shows, what have you, that isn't Disney. So you think,

5:11okay, I need to separate myself from this. And a lot of people will go to the opposite extreme. I certainly know I flirted with those ideas. But as you get older, you kind of look back on it and you go, you know what, like in this life, we're only going to make a couple things that people remember. I mean, name any actor, you can probably only name a movie or two from them. And it's like, at the end of the day, now that I got an older, I look back and I go, you know what, great, if people only know me from this thing, that's awesome. That's all we want to do is leave our mark on this earth and try to make a couple things that mean something to people. So I think just as you get older and more mature, you kind of look back and go, okay, I'm out of my now rebellious phase or running away phase and I'm in this new phase where I'm appreciating where I've come from. You know, I certainly know with this new show that we're doing from Disney. I definitely am loving the fact that we get to revisit this old piece of IP and make it new again for, you know, a lot of millennials now are having kids. So I'm getting messages from tons of fans of the original shows who are now having kids. And we get to represent the show in a whole

6:13new way to that, you know, parent who was a fan and their kid who's now a new fan and give them that co-viewing family experience, which is meaningful. And Disney was, for the most part, just like very wholesome at that time. And you know, it was something that kids could watch. And there would be important topics discussed, but it wasn't something where it's like you had a Disney Channel episode of something and you had to have like this real in-depth conversation about why you saw this or saw that. I mean, they kept it pretty family friendly. I don't know if it's still that way. I hope it is. I know that, you know, we've gone through some arrows that have changed TV and they've introduced some new topics that I personally don't think kids should be exploring, but it is what it is. You know, with the recent passing of Hayden Penetier, I think there's been a renewed discussion about child stars. And why so many child stars tend to have strife in their life and they go through and battle things like mental health problems, addiction, you know, suicidal ideation. And it feels like most child stars

7:18go through that. You're somebody that didn't. But I'm sure you saw many of your co-stars and many of your peers go through troubling times. What is it about the child star lifestyle that maybe makes that pathway a little harder to avoid? Yeah, I talk a lot with parents and kids about this topic and I've done some mentoring even at Disney and some other new shows with families about this and we focus on this a lot in our shows and what we're making at my company when we work with kids. You know, it's a very abnormal situation as a person whose brain isn't fully developed to be working in a very professional environment with lots of adults around, agents, managers, lawyers, EPAs, the pressure of having to audition, losing out on most of those jobs. It's really abnormal for a young person to go through. So it takes a very healthy system around that kid so they don't come out all messed up. And a lot of the times the major issue is the parents. You

8:23have parents who are wanting the kid to make money or using the kid's money to pay the bills. They're creating an inverted dynamic. You know, kids aren't supposed to be the breadwinners, right? And they should never feel like they're the breadwinners. But when you put a kid in that situation and you're hard on them, I mean, I know countless stories of kid actors who, I have a friend of mine that tried to commit suicide not too long ago because he grew up in this world of you auditioning five, six times a week. You're not getting most of them. You're getting callback. You get rate to the end. You don't get it. Your parents are pissed. They make you run around the building because you didn't get it right afterwards as a punishment. I know so many stories of horror stories of just what kids had to go through. And on top of that, if you get it, now you're in this massive, tense, pressure-filled situation where adults are running around and they're saying, you got to say this line. You got to say it on time. There's a lot of money on the line for this moment. It's just a, it's a really tough environment that if you don't have excellent parents, you're going to come out messed up because it's not a normal situation for a kid.

9:24Like kids are not meant to be, they should be climbing a tree or something. Like they're not meant to be in that environment by nature. So for the ones that do, I just encourage the parents, like, you got to be very good parents to this child and let them know that they can quit at any moment. They don't need to do this. This is fun. There should be play time. This is like a kid in a sport. This is not like he's paying the apartment bills. So it's, it's for all those reasons. I've seen many, and I, knew Hayden or Brother Janssen, you know, made their souls rest in peace. And a lot of folks out there who came up in the grind of the child act. The only reason I'm like functioning as an individual right now is because my parents were awesome parents. My dad always said like, we don't need this. We can come home at any moment. This is just like a sport. Just have fun. And when you're done having fun, let's get the heck out of California. You want to go back to Arizona. So they supported me like you support a kid in a sport and they created that atmosphere. So I didn't feel the undue pressure of like having to make money. I was just having fun with it. I'm a kid in Italian

10:26household, Italian family. I like to entertain. And they did a good job with me. But even still like, I went through tons of mental health struggles just because of the constant rejection, the constant pressure, the constant being under the spotlight is not normal for a young person whose brain is nowhere near fully developed. So even with that, it's still tough. I'm going to write a book on this one day. It's going to be called, will I let my kid act? And I'm just going to interview all my friends. I'm going to do, I don't know why I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it. And I want to sit down with all the child actors out there and talk about this because I think it's something that parents especially need to know because every parent thinks they have a cute kid and thinks their kid can act, which is fine. But I think they need some better instructions. So I guess I would ask you that question. Do you want your kids to be in show business? Oh, I'm terrified. I'm terrified. I brought my daughter on one of our sets recently and she walked in and she was like, Papa, all for me. And I was like, oh boy, here we go. Here we go.

11:29My kids are, they perform, they love performing, they're talented. But I don't think I'm going to put them in professional acting. Like I'm not going to put them through the grind of acting. I'll definitely let them do improv, I'll let them do theater plays. All that's really good. And it's very healthy for a young person to activate their imagination. That's all very good. But putting them in the professional child acting world. No, I might put them a little part in one of my things, but not like the professional child acting thing. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. You know, it's so weird now though, is like, I'm sure when you were getting into this world, it very much was auditions and you weren't really in the spotlight until you landed a show or a part or a commercial. But nowadays, we've got kids that they don't need any of that because they have a cell phone and they can post things on TikTok and Instagram and they can become famous that way as influencers. Do you think like if you were to compare the two, the young people that are growing up, that are influencers at a young age? Do you think one is better than the other? Do you think that

12:34maybe the influencer route might actually be more toxic than the child star route of the 90s and early 2000s? Because, you know, now the pressure to get the content monetization and the brand deals, that's a whole other element that you probably didn't have to deal with. Yeah, I know there was a healthy separation between like audience feedback and what you did as an actor, you know, 10, 15 years ago. There was a healthy separation there. Now, in the world of influencers, you just get feedback immediately and it's overwhelming and crushing and activates when it's positive, activates all your dopamine and sends your brain to places that I think are potentially unhealthy. So it's a tough, the whole influencer thing is really, really tough, really, really tough. You know, there is the, I'm sure you've read about, you know, the death of the classic celebrity, you know, we're in a, we're in a completely different time right now that I don't, yeah, for, I want to, I know what I'm doing with my kids,

13:38which is they're not getting cell phones or anything until much later in life. I want to keep them away from that. I want their brains to get fully formed and developed in the most healthy way possible, surround them with nature and good, good books and education. So I'm keeping them away from that, that's for sure, but in terms of like the influence of versus the classic, you know, kid actor from back in the day, it was probably healthier for a kid actor back in the day just because there was a bit of a separation from what people think immediately, which can be pretty, pretty crushing and overwhelming and also build all sorts of addictions and whatnot. Yeah, no, certainly. Are you still close with Selena? Do you guys communicate regularly or what's that relationship like now? Yeah, she's always been like my sister, you know, and she's like auntie to my children. We always had a really close bond and she's just been journeying with me as I've gotten married

14:38and I'm having children now. She's been a part of that and now she's in her new stage of life. She's married now and yeah, we're definitely still, we're definitely still pretty close anytime. I mean, she'll, she'll, you know, have us over for a pool party with the kids and all that. She's got I'm so happy for her and and Benny. They, I've seen a new side of her with him that there's a piece and a joy that that makes me happy for her. Yeah, it's definitely, it seems to be a much more positive place. Do you think that especially in the Disney kid actor world, do you think that the industry and then the fan base in general is harder on young girls than young men like yourself because you probably didn't have to deal with. I mean, you think about Hillary Duff, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Lindsey Lohan, Miley Cyrus. I mean, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. They had to deal with being picked apart but also like for how they look, their weight,

15:42everything about them picked apart their relationships, picked apart like under intense scrutiny and I don't really know if there's male child actors that went through the same kind of scrutiny where it was like on the cover of teen magazines talking or you know, even just regular magazines about like their weight gain, their weight loss, how they look, it's definitely a different environment for the girls. Yeah, I agree and you know, Disney has always been very female centric even from fairy tales back in the day. It's always the leading, the leading lady. So they get, they get more scrutiny for sure and I've just witnessed that from the periphery with, you know, Selena and then all the other, you know, female stars from other shows that I grew up around. Yeah, and you know, that's tough. That's really tough. When you're a young girl or body's changing and going through becoming a woman at that unique period and time in your life, it's tough to hear that kind of criticism. It's tough to witness certain things as I grew up with these people. Yeah, it's, yeah, that's not, no, I can't imagine now in the influencer world, it's like you get so many comments,

16:49so quickly commenting on everything and it's, yeah, it's, it's not easy. Yeah, I can only imagine, you know, and Selena still goes through it, by the way, it's not something that ever like faded away. Probably, you know, more of a microscope now than ever. I want to bring up another show that I also watched on Disney Channel. It was slightly before Wizards of Waverly Place, but you guys were in the same era. Okay. And that was that so Raven. Okay. I don't know, Delek, did you know, did you know Raven? Do you still know Raven? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did like 17 episodes that are, I did a handful of episodes of that show. That's what Disney discovered me. Yes. I played like Corey, the Little Brothers friend, and I did a bunch of those. And yeah, I, I, Raven was like, you know, I was of the age that watched that show. So I was very excited to be on, on that set and finally working with kids, because I'd done a lot of adult shows before. And she was, she was lovely when we were working together. And she actually directed an episode of our new show last season. So I got to see her then and catch

17:54up with her then. I was always a huge fan of Raven. I thought that that show was great. And it talked about real world things that I thought were important. And at the time, you know, I, you know, when I was young, I didn't really conceptualize all of these things, but it brought up an important elements that just kind of made you think, but they weren't in your face like some TV shows are now for young kids. But I want to play a clip that's been going viral that Raven commented on the Baxter family. Okay. I'm going to set this up for you. I don't know if you've seen it or not, but it's gone pretty viral and it's, it's sparking a lot of conversations with millennial Disney Watchers. So Raven essentially said that she's not sure that the Baxter family, which is what the show centered around is they were like actually black. I want to play the clip of Raven discussing it and get your take. Like, no, no, no, I love my blackness, but my blackness can look so many different ways. Yeah, but you all set up because Raven Baxter was so black that the people took that to be what she black. She felt black as hell to me. Why did she give it to me, though? Why did she

18:58feel black to you? Because it was the first time that I had seen like this black family. So you saw color. Yeah. Take away the color. Okay. Make them green. Okay. And hear the words. And hear the words. What color are they? Okay, interesting discussion. A lot of people have a lot of thoughts. What's your take on that is somebody who's involved in the show knows Raven, fell a Disney Channel star? That's the first time I've seen that clip. You know, when I was when I was working on the show or or filming the show. Yeah, I'm just trying to picture myself back in the day. Like, what would I think as a kid when I was when I was working on the show or that whole conversation? I don't. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just honestly kind of confused after watching that. Like I'm like kind of scratching my head a little bit. When you were on the show. Yeah, it's a little confusing, isn't it? When you were on the show, did you think of it as like Disney Channel's black show? Was that ever

20:01how that show was categorized? Not in my head at all. No, I just thought it was a fun family show and they were super funny. And you know, Raven has a she's been around forever. She was in comedy forever. And so I was like working with someone who's she was like a you know, as a kid growing up in the industry and you go be on a show like that. She's like an idol. You know, she's Raven. She's done it all and she's got her own Disney show. And so to me, it was just like, no, I'm doing a show with these guys. The Corey, I played his you know, friend and you know, I didn't at one time think like, oh, this is a black show or anything like that. I was just like, I'm on this family show. I'm having a good time to sitcom. They're really talented. Everyone's, I learned a lot on that show just as an actor because everyone's timing was so phenomenal. There was impeccable timing. Everyone was really on point. They taught me a lot about comedy and rhythm and how it works. I didn't for a second think color of skin didn't plan to my mind one time. Yeah. So no, I didn't

21:03think anything about color when I was on that show. Yeah. And I didn't watching it. Honestly, I think it's interesting now how some people want to look back at certain shows that I thought were very unifying, you know, that they want to look back on it and like pick apart things to be like, this was racist or this was this or this was wrong or not politically correct. And it's like, it's weird to me when people do that because as somebody who was born and raised in South Dakota, which is, you know, a pretty white state, I didn't watch that so rave and be like, oh, this is a like, this is a black show. It's like, oh, this is just one of my favorite shows on Disney Channel. It's weird to me when people now want to go back and like this lens of 2026 and they want to pick apart these shows and find something wrong with them. I thought they were great shows that are actually really unifying. Honestly, like the whole my kind of M.O. what motivates me is like, there's so many of these conversations happening and people are so defensive with content and they're trying to describe meeting to past pieces of content and

22:07audience. I feel like we're just fatigued like the entertainment business supposed to be like it's called the entertainment business. Let's just have fun again. Let's create things with unitive and uplifting values. Things we can all bond over like the whole reason that I have a company called NOVO, which means new in Latin. We're trying to make old stories new. It's called NOVO Inspire Studio is the whole point of what we're trying to do is create this kind of worry-free elevating environment that I think we've been craving and you know, to circle back to the beginning of our conversation. A lot of millennials and Gen Z and even older generations are going back to older forms of content because it's a place that they feel safe and they don't feel like you have your dukes up when you're watching something like my wife and I were very protective over our kids and we are very defensive over the content that they watch. You know, Aristotle says you learn through images and they're getting 24 frames a second. So it's like, what are we putting in our kids' heads? And as a parent, I know I share this fear with many, many, many millions of others. We're defensive. We're like investigators. We have our website set up that can check the

23:11piece of content and what it's saying and that's a problem. You know, that's a problem which is actively what I'm trying to solve with our company right now and the types of movies and shows that we're putting out is just create that time again where people leave their defenses at home and they just come have a good time and they don't feel like they're you know, spat on when watching the piece of content or being lectured too. When I was watching Disney Channel, watching your show, watching that's so raven, watching Lizzie McGuire, watching the Disney Channel original movies that I also loved and watched over and over and over and over and over again, I didn't feel like I was being fed a political message. Like I didn't know who anybody voted for or what their political preference was. I mean, there were concepts that were discussed, but I didn't know like, oh, this person is a Democrat. This person's a liberal. This person might be a conservative. Like that was just not a part of it. Do you feel like now there's more of a motivation to make

24:13things political in TV and especially in kids programming? Like they have to discuss subjects that are maybe a little bit more adult. I mean, I you know, I think to go to the point where we're just discussing like, I think the fact that parents in general feel defensive kind of indicates a problem and I think we can all speculate as to, you know, what that is. But with any piece of content, whatever side of the aisle that you're on, when you put the message ahead of the entertainment value or ahead of the story, then it becomes propaganda. Then it becomes a lecture as you were saying. And I think that's like a fundamental error and that's not what storytelling is about. Storytelling is the opposite way. So I think whenever anyone creates that dynamic, you see it coming from a mile away. And again, this affects all sides of the aisle. How many times you've gone into a movie where you're like, oh, I see this coming. I know there's going to be an alter-cult at the end of this.

25:17Or I know where it's going and being beat over the head with it. And that's just not good storytelling. And it's fundamentally what we're trying not to do in our company and the kind of stories that we're trying to tell. We're trying to recreate that entertainment value, that storytelling ability that is classic but ever new. And we'll bring everyone. I mean, there are movies that are so good that everyone from any side of the aisle sits down and watches and everyone agrees. Like, you know, everyone sits down and watches for us, Gump, and you're like, we can all agree that I feel amazing after this. Or I feel touched or inspired. Like, that's just great storytelling. And it's very much what we're trying to do. Did you get any grief from anybody given that you played a young Ronald Reagan in the new Reagan movie? Did anyone give you like, oh, because, you know, Ryan Reynolds, just the other day, said that the 80s were like the worst time in history, which was a little perplexing. I wasn't alive in the 80s, but I don't think the 80s for most people were that bad. But you

26:21played Ronald Reagan, which is, you know, a conservative icon. And I would assume that you probably got some people that watched you on Disney Channel that didn't like that you were portraying Reagan. Yeah, you know, sure, I got some comments or some things from people, but I'm like, you know what actors do? They play people that they're not. It's kind of crazy. And this was a role. I got to play someone I wasn't. And it was a blast. It was a blast. I got to do all sorts of scenes that were challenging and engaging with great actors. I got to play young, you know, they turn into Dennis Quaid, who I'm a big fan of, and also one of my wife's crushes. So for many reasons, it was a movie that was fun. And I thought Shed Light on an important historical figure that it is what it is. But I certainly had fun. And I think the movie did a lot of good. And they're re-releasing it here here soon. So hopefully everyone will go check it out. It was a great movie. I watched it. I thought you did a great job. I thought Dennis Quaid did a

27:23great job. I mean, again, back to Millennial thing, like he will always be the parent trap to me. So like it's very exciting to see him in that role. But you know, just kind of on that same wavelength, not only you that are doing new things and developing your own path, but it feels like a lot of Disney stars. I mean, Miley just put out another album. And of course, she's really never left. She's always been like in culture. But even like seeing Hillary Duff now go go and tour, even though she's not Liz McWire anymore, it's like all the Liz McWire fans are desperate, like Hillary Duff because of what we remember from Liz McWire. Like what do you think about that? And people reinventing their careers with the same fans that were watching them when they were like nine years old. Well, I think you hit on it. Tommy, like the then nostalgia factor is so huge right now. People I think are oversaturated with the world and they're they're clinging on to memories

28:24and times that really were peaceful in their lives. And a lot of times that goes back to their favorite shows, their favorite actors. And a childhood memory is so impactful, especially when it's positive. Like that's some of the most formative anchor memories you could possibly have. Like whenever I've gotten to meet some of the power Rangers, which as a young boy was my favorite show. And even now as like a grown man, I've gotten to meet some of the power Rangers and I turn into a little kid when I'm around them. Like the second I see them, I'm like it's, you know, the blue Ranger or whatever. And I get nervous because it was such a powerful childhood memory. Or there's other shows when I was young that I watched to this day. If I meet that person, I get nervous. So likewise, I think, you know, especially young girls grew up watching Lizzie McGuire. Those memories are anchored into them. And so when they see her doing something new and something exciting, then then they'll they'll want to go support that. And that's, you know, I looking back on

29:24everything Disney's created for me. It's like I didn't, I don't I don't even think I still fully understand just how big that impact was. It's like you only had a couple channels to watch. And the fandom that that's created has really, I'm grateful for it because it's given us the opportunity to create things that I think will speak to speak to that generation in a powerful way. And my wife and I are writing a book. We have movies coming out. And I'm like, I'm so excited to share these pieces of content with them because I think they can be uplifting and can help impact the culture positively. This September marks the 25th anniversary of 9-11 and tunnel to towers is marking it in a big way. Our steel across America tour is carrying steel from the World Trade Center to 35 cities nationwide. And along the way, we're paying off 343 mortgages, one for every firefighter lost on September 11th for Goldstar and Fallen First Responder Families. Help us honor their sacrifice and help America never forget visit t2t.org.

30:27No, definitely. What do you make of Shia LaBuff in 2026? I would assume that you knew him at Disney. I mean, even Stevens, amazing show. I loved even Stevens. And I loved the famous TV. I was like my favorite. I mean, I mean, holes, holes, holes is a great movie. I watch holes now. I'm like, I love this amazing actor. But you know, he's like lost his way a little bit, still hilarious, but he's lost his way a little bit. What do you think happened there? He's one of the most talented guys. Like, and he's spoken out publicly about all of this in terms of his childhood. What he went through as a child actor. He made like a film about it. Yeah, he went through a lot as a kid. He went through a lot in terms of their family dynamics. That's a circle back to earlier part of our conversation. That's an example of what can happen in a family. And these are all his words, it's not mine. He's talked a lot about this.

31:28It stinks to see some of the things that have happened publicly with him. And I'm absolutely praying for him. My family's praying for him. I did come up in a similar time as him. And I got to meet him several times when I was young. I looked up to him and he's so incredibly talented, like so incredibly talented. If I had a sliver of his pinky of talent, it would be amazing. So no, I'm praying for the guy. Clearly he's working through stuff and he needs, he needs everyone to say some prayers for him because he's got so much light. And he's, I've loved just listening to him talk. He's such a deep thinker and he is profound in a lot of ways too. So I'm like, yeah, I hope I wish him well. And I hope he figures everything out on a mental health level. Yeah. And he's been also vocal about kind of rediscovering his faith and how that's become important to him. And you know that is transformative. You're somebody who's very open about your faith. Is that easy to do in Hollywood? Is that easy to do in show

32:32business to be somebody that's open about their faith that's proud of their faith? Is that something that's discouraged or maybe was discouraged that now is becoming more common? But what was that journey like for you? Yeah, I mean, I think I think times are changing. I think now it's it's more accepted or how to how to put it in the right way. I remember, you know, I'm 37 now. I came to Christianity when I was about 21, 22 years old right in there. And that was a different time in the entertainment business. That was about 16 or 15 years ago. And it was just I was very, you know, quiet about my faith at first because you it's so hard to succeed in this business and everyone's very opinionated. And I was just always kind of the mindset that like I'm just going to be, you know, an entertainer and an actor. I'm not a politician or a political person. I'm just

33:37going to keep my mouth shut and do what I do, what I know how to do. But what I will say is you're seeing a very new and massive demand for faith content, for elevated faith content that you've never seen before. Like I wouldn't have my company what we're doing right now. We have a, you know, film fund and we're launching movies and shows. I wouldn't it would be impossible to do what I'm doing now, you know, five, six, seven years ago because the demand just wasn't wasn't quite there. But now there's this massive demand. Every streamer and studio out there are figuring out the faith space and investing more in the faith space, which I think is great. It's clearly a massive demographic with a massive demand. And and I think now it's a really a unique time in Hollywood that we haven't had in a very long time. And I'm motivated and excited by it because people are wanting the kind of stuff that Hollywood is wanting the kind of stuff that I've been it been dying to make. We have a movie coming out in a month called Angel in the Bad Man with

34:38Timely Jones and Neil McDonough and Zachary Levi. There's subtle elements of faith in it. It's a remake to a John Wayne classic that I'm executive producing and it's a part of our company's portfolio. There's there's some nascent elements of faith in it. Angel Studios is releasing it, but it isn't it's one of those movies that the time is right for right now. It's got adventure. It has romance about good versus evil positive themes around masculinity, but it it it is feeding this demand, this massive demand that's out there right now that I don't know if we, you know, five years ago. I don't know if the movie gets made, but now it is there. And likewise, we're doing for for kids and family like six to 11 year olds. We have a time travel show that travels back in time and goes on adventures with these famous people we've heard about in the calendar year, valentine, Nicholas, Patrick, all these saints. We don't know the real stories. There's and there's incredible stories behind these men, these faith-filled men that no one knows about. So we're creating this adventure time travel show called Halo Heroes, which will air an EWTN about going back in time and

35:42going into adventures with these saints. It's going to be high quality as good as anything you'd see on Netflix or Disney, but it it it is explicitly faith and I don't think we make that show five years ago, but now now we're doing it. Why not five years ago? So yeah, I think it's a great time. What do you think that is? Is it because and I'm just going to give you my theory and you tell me if I'm hotter cold? It feels like there are a lot of people that were child stars and even just in in television in general Hollywood movies TV doesn't matter that are Christian that grew up being Christian and not necessarily ashamed of being Christian, but I think in the last 10 years specifically, if you say I'm a Christian, people go, okay, you're a conservative, you're a Trump supporter. Is is it that? Because it feels like it's that. Like you have people, you know, Chris Pratt, another example, like, hey, I'm really strong in my faith. Oh, must be a Trump supporter. And Mark Wahlberg, same thing. Hey, I'm a Christian. Oh, well, that must be a Trump supporter. And it's almost like in your industry, they can flate the two. You don't have to be a Christian to be a conservative or

36:47a conservative to be a Christian, but it feels like Hollywood is so removed from faith that they see somebody who's faith forward and they automatically just say, well, that must be a conservative. Does that play a role into that? I mean, I definitely just because I'm Christian, I definitely get comments about that. And it's like, you have no idea, people no idea what they're talking about. They paint with a broad brush. And I think that's part of the problem with the world is we're quick to judge and judge based on no facts, which is a massive issue. But to compound that, there was no, there was, there wasn't as much of a monetary incentive, you know, Hollywood's a for-profit industry. And the demand I don't think was as high for content that had faith in it. But now the demand has significantly and exponentially increased year over year. You have companies like Angel Studios that are emerging, EWTN, what they're doing at Amazon with John Irwin, what Andy Irwin's doing at Lionsgate, Netflix is getting in the space in a big way. You have this just blusting demand that is going to continue to increase, that you just didn't have before. And it

37:51took people five, six years ago starting to make a piece of content that had faith in it to prove the model. And I think, I think that plays a big part of it that there wasn't a market demand, that there really is now. And it's allowed us to do the things that we're doing. And that I'm excited about. So I think it's a big compounded issue with multiple factors. Yeah, no, certainly. I think those in Hollywood that are removed from faith don't understand how many people in this country are still very connected to their faith. And they want content that they can sit with their families and watch and that has a positive message that doesn't have all these elements in it that you know, kids shouldn't be seeing or family shouldn't be watching together. So there's definitely this poll. We've had a lot of reporting to the Gen Z is more interested in faith than previous generations. They want something real. They want something to turn to. You know, I have to ask you too, because we're right now at the anniversary, one year anniversary of the assassination of Charlie

38:52Kirk, somebody who put their faith out there for the world to see and was very proud of his faith, regardless of how you feel about his politics, his faith was something he wanted to be remembered for. And you saw a lot of young people that were inspired by Charlie, maybe not for politics, but because of his faith. What do you make of that is somebody who is not only a millennial, but is a dad, somebody who puts his faith first, who's reflecting on this one year anniversary, that a lot of lives changed when Charlie was taken from us. Yeah, no. I remember, you know, I have kids that are around his age. I remember hearing about that. My wife called me immediately. She was bawling. I mean, yeah, if you don't feel for someone who just, for kids who just love, lost their father, yeah, I don't know if you have a heartbeat. Like that is, that is, that was absolutely tragic. And I think he, he was a part of a, especially the Christian, we're talking about Christianity,

39:53you know, he spoke to a young demographic that's becoming disenfranchised or disinterested in what the world has to offer them. And there is this, like you were saying, this growing trend right now in Gen Z, after this, I'm going to go speak at NYU, for some NYU and Tish students, about about faith and entertainment and culture. And I love talking to Gen Z about the faith, because they're experiencing a lot of what I experienced as a young person, which is just that you're, you're not satisfied with the world, you know, you're not satisfied with the world. We have so much so quickly now, we get more and quicker than any generation ever before us, materially speaking. And it loses its flavor. It's like, you know, you put three, four pieces of bubblegum in your mouth, they lose their flavor, and then you feel like you're chewing on a thing of rubber, it's gross, you know, and you want to spit it out. And that's, that's us exhausting the world right now. So I think you're seeing Gen Z in millennials really just find the world losing its flavor and wanting something different, that you're also seeing a lot of Christian denominations

40:55that have more traditional elements, really flourish, you know, you hear about Catholicism, orthodoxy, really flourishing and getting a lot of, a lot of converts, because I think that's part of this movement of people going, you know, I'm running away from this fleeting world, and I want something that has roots that has tradition, Charlie spoke about that as well. So I think it's an interesting moment right now, and my question, you know, would be how do you, how do you sustain that? How do we make sure that these young people, and this is what I want to talk about with some of the kids that I'm with you tonight, is like, okay, we all, we all ran away, right? We ran away from what we, running away is probably the wrong word. We found another end that's more sustainable, the ultimate end, and how do we stay there now? Like, if it loses, if it stops being cool and up the moment to be Christian or whatever, how do we make sure that we stay? How do we make sure that that builds? That's a question I'm very interested in exploring, but I think the diagnosing the problem is clear, like I think this generation has left people wanting seriously. It's like that,

41:56I guess, in quote, our heart is restless until it rests in the O Lord, and I think that's more relevant now than ever. Thank you right about that. Well, you're doing beautiful things, and you're an inspiration to so many who grew up watching you, and are so happy to see what you're doing with your platform and how you're elevating the things that matter to you and matter to a lot of us. It's really inspirational to see. Thank you so much for taking the time. I really appreciate it. I'm a lifelong fan of Disney Channel and everything that you put out there, and even more so what you're doing now. So thank you so much. I really appreciate this time. Tommy, thank you, and have a great day. Thank you. You as well. God bless. All right, that does it for this episode of Tommy Laren. It's fearless. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe, support the YouTube channel at Tommy Laren is fearless, full episodes on outkick.com and Fox Nation. Also, the Instagram page at Tommy Laren is fearless, audio available. Where are you get your podcasts? Spotify, our heart, Apple. You can listen wherever and don't forget to watch the big weekend show every Saturday and Sunday, 5 to 8 PM Eastern on Fox News from Nashville. God bless and take care.