When John O’Leary walked onto the set of “Soul on Fire,” the upcoming film inspired by his own life, he wasn’t stepping into a recreation of his childhood; he was stepping into it.
The scenes of family dinners, prayer around the table and long talks with his father weren’t filmed on a soundstage, but inside his parents’ actual home in St. Louis, Missouri.
It was the same screened-in porch where his father once gently urged him to stop running from the past and the same church where he exchanged vows with his wife.
“This film was shot where it happened,” the 48-year-old motivational speaker and author told The Christian Post. “When you see John having dinner with his family, that’s actually the dinner table where I still have meals with my family. That’s my mom and dad’s house. The scene on the screen porch where John Corbett is talking to Joel Courtney, that’s a real conversation I had with my hero, my dad, on that screened-in porch.”
Over the last few decades, O’Leary’s life, marked at first by tragedy and ultimately by resilience and grace, has inspired millions.
At age 9, he was burned on 100% of his body after a fire in his home and was given a 1% chance of survival. What followed this story of prayer, perseverance and community became the subject of his bestselling book, On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Lifeand now the AFFIRM Films movie adaptation “Soul on Fire,” directed by Sean McNamara (“Soul Surfer,” “Reagan”).
Opening in theaters nationwide on Oct. 10, the film stars Joel Courtney (“Jesus Revolution”) as a young John, John Corbett (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) as his father, and William H. Macy (“Fargo”) as legendary sportscaster Jack Buck, who befriended O’Leary during his recovery and became one of the pivotal figures in his healing.
O’Leary, a devout Christian, shared how watching his father’s story unfold onscreen was perhaps the most moving part of the cinematic journey. His father and hero, Dennis, lived with Parkinson’s disease for more than three decades before his death in May.
“There’s a scene where everyone rises in the church as the beautiful bride walks down,” O’Leary recalled. “You see the actors Stephanie and John Corbett rise, but you also see my mom in the second row, and my dad. My dad’s got Parkinson’s. He can’t rise. He has not in a decade. But when Sean McNamara yelled out ‘action,’ my dad heard it and pulls himself up and pulls his shoulders back and smiles.”
“My dad passed away on May 30, and he’s no longer with us, but I’ve never felt more connected to my dad than I do right now. Not only because of this film, but because I know where my dad is. His fight against Parkinson’s is over. He won. He’s at peace. He’s in Heaven, and he’s looking down incredibly proud of the story we’re telling and the impact we’re about to have with it.”
Before his passing, Dennis O’Leary attended an early screening of “Soul on Fire,” something his son said happened by divine timing.
“My dad held my hand the entire time, an hour and 43 minutes is too long to hold a man’s hand, I’ll just tell you that,” he quipped. “But at the end of it, I leaned over as the crowd was clapping, and I said, ‘Dad, what do you think about your film?’ And my dad, dying of Parkinson’s, whispers back, ‘What a gift. What a gift.’”
The phrase, O’Leary said, meant far more than a movie review.
“That review wasn’t just about the film,” he said. “That review was about two house fires, Parkinson’s disease, bipolar disorder in the family, bankruptcy and still recognizing that God works through all things, even the chaos of life.”
For William H. Macy, who portrays Jack Buck, the St. Louis Cardinals announcer who wrote letters to O’Leary throughout his recovery, the story was a revelation about the ripple effect of kindness.
“It’s a graphic illustration of how seemingly small things can have a huge effect on people,” Macy said.
“My wife is really good at this. We’ll see a film and say, ‘Wow, so-and-so is really good. I should write him.’ And she’s famous for saying, ‘Do it now. Do it right now.’ Because you make a plan and then you never do it. I’ve tried to start doing that; just those little things: a note, a thank you, flowers, just to say, ‘Good job.’ And boy, Jack Buck is a case study in how these seemingly little things can have huge ramifications.”
When Macy, who has starred in a slew of films over his decades-long career, first read the script, he said he was moved to tears.
“I wept and I laughed when I read it,” he said. “It didn’t take me but a nanosecond to say yes. They got a great cast too. John Corbett brought this lovely lightness to it, even in the midst of all this drama and tragedy and sadness.”
O’Leary added, “John Corbett may not know how to act. Who you see is who he is: a man who loves life. He reminds me of my dad. In the midst of profound challenge, my dad would show up so joyful. We hit the jackpot with this cast. Not only are they phenomenal actors, they’re incredible people.”
For all the heartbreak in O’Leary’s story, “Soul on Fire” is ultimately about hope and about what the father-of-four called an “ordinary love in extraordinary circumstances.”
“This film candidly is not about me,” he said. “If anyone says they want a movie made about their life, you should sprint away from that person quickly. I don’t want any of this. I don’t like the bright lights. But if the bright lights can reflect goodness out there into the marketplace, I’ll do it all day long.”
He pointed to the film’s poster, which shows Joel Courtney, the actor portraying him, with his back to the camera, surrounded by a mosaic of faces.
“Look at the movie poster,” O’Leary said. “You see Joel Courtney, but his back is to the photographer. It’s a mosaic of all the hands, all the feet, all the faces, all the voices and actions of people who showed up. What they did and the impact they were part of. We live in such a fractured, broken, victimized society right now. Just watch the news. And then you see a movie like this, it’s a true story. It’s not glorified or glamorized. It’s just a true story of ordinary love and how redemptive that is. And right now, I think we need a healthy dose of that.”
Macy added, “It’s a story that reminds us of the best of us,” he said. “And that’s something we could all use a little more of.”
“Soul on Fire” hits theaters on Oct. 10.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
