Actor Talks ‘Trying to Be a Man of God, Live by Faith,’ Being There ’For My Wife and My Kids’

As an actor Lucas Black has played many roles. 

But the roles most important to Black are the ones he plays off camera — husband and father— all while keeping his faith in God.

Black, who formerly appeared on “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans,” said nothing comes before God and family in an interview with Fox News.

Black spoke with the outlet about his new movie, “Unsung Hero.” 

“This is one that’s a story that is about faith and family. And so, you know, that’s important in my life,” Black said. 

The movie shows how the Smallbone family came to the U.S. from Australia to rebuild their lives. The family includes Luke and Joel Smallbone from the Christian pop band For King & Country.

“So, I was excited. I was excited to get it because some of these stories — they don’t come around very often and, you know, so that was a blessing,” he said.

Another blessing for Black was the movie was shot in Louisville, Kentucky, near where he lives with his wife and three children.

“We found two weeks in Louisville, and so I was happy to be, you know — family and close here to home and Kentucky,” he said. 

Black said he could relate to his character Jed Albright — as a husband, father and man of faith.

“I’m married, I have three kids and, you know, my character’s a churchgoer, and, so am I — so, you know, trying to be a man of God, live by faith and be there for the relationships, be present, for my wife and my kids,” he said. “And, you know, Jed seems like the person that was the same way.  He, in the script, he’s wanting to do good and help the community and be the man that God’s called him to be.

“I’m honored to be a part of this story and what it promotes, you know, family and trying to be a good man of God.” 

Black and his wife, Maggie O’Brien, have a secret to keeping their marriage going — “not putting the career before our relationship.” 

“When we made that covenant with each other and before God and before man, you know, she becomes the number one person in my life and is over everything else,” he said. “So, nothing should get in the way of that. And so, you know, it’s communicating each other’s needs and — but we, we keep Jesus at the center. He’s the head. We can’t do it without him.” 

Becoming a father makes life better, Black said.

“It’s very fulfilling,” he said. “As a man, we kind of yearn for that purpose, you know? And there are some things that I have learned in life. And, you know, for me, I want to pass that on. Right? I want to teach it to my children. And hopefully they can become responsible adults and make a contribution to the world and make an impact for good and grow the kingdom.”

And it was because of his family he “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans.”

“I would work 70 hours a week,” he said, “and so there would be times where I would go to work and my kids would still be asleep, and I would come home, and they would be already in bed asleep. So, that doesn’t bode too well — that kind of schedule doesn’t bode too well for the relationships that mean the most in your life. So, I knew it wasn’t going to last forever for me.”

After “prayer and consideration,” he decided to leave.

“I had to focus on what was most important in my life,” Black said. “I’ve been really blessed, and so God kind of took my career in a different direction, you know? ‘Legacy Peak’ was really the first film that fell in my lap, first script, after ‘NCIS.’ And that was kind of the first time where the production was people of faith and Christian believers. 

“And so that was a great experience. You know, it was a real, really blessing to be on a movie set with like-minded believers and with the same goal, and same like-minded people. And so that kind of shifted a whole new path for me. And so, a lot of these scripts have been coming to me now since then, and, that’s how ‘Unsung Hero’ came about.” 

“Unsung Hero” also stars Joel Smallbone, who co-directed the film, Rebecca St. James and Candace Cameron Bure. It will be in theaters on Friday.