TAKING NOTE
Musician Moriah Smallbone makes feature debut in ‘Journey to Bethlehem’
Moriah Smallbone recently returned home to Nashville, Tennessee, after a few days of visiting family in El Paso. “I grew up going to El Paso my whole life,” she says. “I’m trying to get my husband to buy a home out there because now that my grandma is gone, I don’t want to disconnect from the culture.”
Smallbone is currently starring in the feature film musical, “Journey to Bethlehem,” which is currently in theaters.
“Journey to Bethlehem” is a story about a young woman carrying an unimaginable responsibility.
A young man torn between love and honor. A jealous king who will stop at nothing to keep his crown. This live-action Christmas musical adventure for the entire family weaves classic Christmas melodies with humor, faith and new pop songs in a retelling of the greatest story ever told, the story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus.
Smallbone makes her theatrical debut as Deborah. She stars opposite Milo Manheim, Antonio Banderas, Fiona Palomo and her husband, Joel Smallbone, who is also part of the duo for King & Country.
“We learned about Mary and I was never satisfied with how we learned about her,” she says. “I’m a female and the main female protagonist is nothing like me. I’m intense. This version of Mary is a very different perspective. We have this drafted this version of her. We have always breathed into the margin of text and we’ve always used the sanctified imagination and what they could have been feeling and going through at this time.”
Smallbone moved to Spain for a few months for production of the film.
Since it was her first film, there were nerves.
“The part that intimidated me or gave me the butterflies is the echelon of the crew and cast,” she says. “Our script supervisor has worked on some
of the greatest films. With Fiona and Milo and Antonio, they brought it every time we were on set. I learned a lot and the star on the top of the tree was working with Antonio. He’s a professional in the best way. I was in the recording studio while he was recording his song and his voice is just magical.”
Smallbone is making the transition from musician to the big screen. She’s been in the music industry for awhile now and learned how to take rejection.
“As a musician, you work hard and I know how to befriend rejection,” she says. “It’s part of the process and the friendlier I get with rejection, it teaches me. For this film, rejection taught me not to get caught up when you don’t get the call back. I have filmed hundreds of auditions in my home and not received callbacks.
I had received hundreds of ‘no’s’ before receiving this ‘yes.’ With every no, I learned how to release my life and plans. When I was given the opportunity, I was able to step into this project and adapt quickly.”