From "Movie Guide" : "How Faith Drives JESUS REVOLUTION Star’s Career"

Actor Joel Courtney explained how his faith keeps him grounded in Hollywood and discussed the incredible privilege he felt working on Jesus Revolution.

“My faith is absolutely what kept me grounded [growing up]. My dad was just steadfast in his position as a bringer of wisdom in my life… Anytime I went down to Los Angeles from the age of 13 to 20, he was with me and — there’s a lot of people out there trying to get a leg up on people, take advantage of people, just industry weirdness — he took better care of me than I could have been aware of at the time, and I don’t think I will continue to be aware of until I have my own kids,” Courtney told Andy Erwin. “He really lived out a father’s love to me.”

“To the aspect of my faith, I really accepted Jesus personally in my faith when I was on SUPER EIGHT because it was my first time leaving [Idaho], it was my first time leaving a small-town community, tight Christian community and seeing, like, atheists… like really interacting with non-Christians,” he continued. “So I was like, wow, these people need Jesus. Like, oh, I need Jesus more than just, my parents are Christians so I’m a Christian.”

“Jesus has been my rock through crazy times in Hollywood, low times in my career, and in the good times. Jesus Revolutionised my life by loving me,” he said previously.

Since then, Courtney’s faith has played a major role in his acting career from relying on the Lord’s wisdom when considering roles to taking on faith-based projects to inspire others.

“[It’s] trying to make good decisions which jobs to take, which jobs not to take, that is a challenge as a Christian,” Courtney explained. “That has been a challenge to figure out, like, especially in this day and age, there’s scripts that I read, like, I’m not comfortable doing, like, sexual acts or nudity or stuff like that, I’m just like, that’s not me.”

While holding true to his faith has caused him to lose out on some economic success, remaining faithful to the Lord has paid out dividends for Courtney that he could have never dreamed of. Working on Jesus Revolution, for example, allowed him to encourage millions of people in their faith and inspire thousands to give their lives over to the Lord.

“I can’t fathom the generational blessing that Jesus Revolution has been,” he said. “I’ve seen it in the first generation’s life, the people who saw it, their kids, you know, will be affected by it, Lord willing, and their children’s children.”

“I just connected with it immediately,” Courtney said of JESUS REVOLUTION. “First off, anything with the gospel in it, I’m immediately passionate about. There’s a joy in my faith that I long for others to experience.”

Jesus Revolution won a Teddy Bear Award® at Movieguide®’s 2024 awards gala. Movieguide®’s review reads:

JESUS REVOLUTION is incredibly well made and captivating. It has many scenes with jeopardy and inspiring, well-written presentations of Jesus’ Gospel. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution because the movie accurately depicts the drug scene from an impartial viewpoint that might attract younger children. The movie also shows Greg Laurie’s mother’s constant drunkenness and philandering. The immoral behavior is part of the true stories in JESUS REVOLUTION, which, to an amazing degree, have been made into an exciting, cohesive, uplifting movie.

Come see me tonight in Napa Valley!

Cameo Cinema, 1340 Main St, St Helena, CA, 94574

The Cameo Cinema welcomes JOEL COURTNEY for its "Nightmare on Main Street" event on November 2, 2024, showtime is 7:00pm. We will be screening J.J. Abrams' Sci-Fi classic, SUPER 8 with a curated Q&A with Joel following the film. SUPER 8 follows several youngsters (Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso) in 1979 Ohio who are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment.They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident.

Since he burst onto the scene in the summer of 2011 in J.J. Abrams’ SUPER 8, Joel starred in a number of films since and ultimately became well known for his leading role opposite Joey King and Jacob Elordi in the hit KISSING BOOTH trilogy for Netflix. Joel was the leading man opposite Kelsey Grammar in the 2023 Lionsgate feature JESUS REVOLUTION, which broke box office records as Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film since 2019. Tickets $10

This event is part of the Cameo Cinema’s “Nightmare on Main Street” event (November 2 to November 3) as we explore the spooky science behind the horror movies we love with Hollywood's celebrated artists and creators!

From "Patch" : "In Person! Netflix star Joel Courtney at Cameo Cinema for SUPER 8 Screening"

The Cameo Cinema welcomes JOEL COURTNEY for its "Nightmare on Main Street" event on November 2, 2024, showtime is 7:00pm. We will be screening J.J. Abrams' classic horror film, SUPER 8 with a curated Q&A with Joel following the film. SUPER 8 follows several youngsters (Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Gabriel Basso) in 1979 Ohio who are making a zombie movie with a Super-8 camera. In the midst of filming, the friends witness a horrifying train derailment.They soon discover that the catastrophe was no accident.

Since he burst onto the scene in the summer of 2011 in J.J. Abrams’ SUPER 8, Joel starred in a number of films since and ultimately became well known for his leading role opposite Joey King and Jacob Elordi in the hit KISSING BOOTH trilogy for Netflix. Joel was the leading man opposite Kelsey Grammar in the 2023 Lionsgate feature JESUS REVOLUTION, which broke box office records as Lionsgate’s highest-grossing film since 2019. Tickets $10

This event is part of the Cameo Cinema’s “Nightmare on Main Street” event (November 2 to November 3) as we explore the spooky science behind the horror movies we love with Hollywood's celebrated artists and creators!

https://patch.com/california/napavalley/calendar/event/20241102/3ec3365a-9c89-4eb7-9ed1-7172feb23efc/in-person-netflix-star-joel-courtney-at-cameo-cinema-for-super-8-screening

From "Hollywood Reporter" : "‘Players’ Review: Gina Rodriguez Takes Us Back to Rom-Com Basics in Netflix Charmer"

The star plays a New York sportswriter trying to turn a one-night stand into a serious relationship in a film co-starring Damon Wayans Jr.

Mack, the sly protagonist of Netflix’s endearing new rom-com Players, always closes. The 33-year-old journalist has a back pocket stuffed with plays that rarely fail. Want to convince the stranger at the bar that you can offer her the world? Or bag your next-door neighbor? Mack and her friends can walk you through the moves, honed over 12 years, to force an interaction.

The plays work well because Mack, Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.), Brannagan (Augustus Prew) and Ryan aka “Little” (Joel Courtney) are committed to research. Establishing a play requires a careful assessment of the target, the situation and the context. The plays can always help you land a steamy bar make-out, a one-night stand or maybe even a date. What they can’t do, Mack learns, is get you into a relationship.

Players, directed by Trish Sie, is the kind of romantic comedy that wears the conventions of its genre proudly. It’s not reaching for unique twists or spectacular splashes. It’s not trying to reinvent, reimagine or re-do anything about the pursuit of love. No, it’s trying to win you over with the basics: attractive leads with chemistry, a bit of triangular tension, a gallery of witty friends and a lesson tucked into a heartwarming story.

The film begins with Mack and her friends negotiating their next play. Brannagan wants to get a svelte blonde nursing a drink at the bar. She seems out of his league, which means the play must have exaggerations rooted in honesty. Tell too tall a tale and the jig is up. The secret to the plays is the process of seduction, of charming the target with your efforts. As the captain of the team, Mack takes the lead, establishing her role as a classic rom-com heroine: a bold, hyper-independent journalist who can diagnose everyone’s problems but her own.

Her friends, most of whom work at the local newspaper with her, have their own archetypes. Adam is Mack’s pal from college, the kind of person with whom intimacy is second nature. Brannagan, an obits reporter, enjoys the thrill of the chase so much his friends implore him to go to therapy. Little is Brannagan’s younger brother, the consummate sidekick and also seemingly unemployed. The crew have a candid and unforced rapport that brings to mind the dynamic between the roommates of New Girl (which Wayans also starred in). Whit Anderson’s screenplay isn’t heavy-handed, preferring to gesture at the depth of each relationship through inside jokes and sometimes cutting asides.

The power of the plays comes under threat when Mack meets Nick (Tom Ellis), an award-winning war correspondent with Egyptian cotton and matching cutlery. The pair sleep together after a work happy hour. When Nick takes Mack to her apartment, she falls in love with the sophistication of it all. A relationship with him would offer a sure pathway to adulthood, making her feel secure in a time of instability (looming layoffs at the newspaper where she’s employed).

The transition from playboy to girlfriend aspirations comes off abruptly, but the film smooths out once Mack enlists her friends to help. The process of researching Nick requires all hands on deck plus the addition of office manager Ashley (a scene-stealing Liza Koshy). They stage run-ins and encounters that nudge Nick into taking Mack on a real date.

Their plans work, but once Mack gets the guy, she realizes the relationship isn’t what she expected. Tucked into the gags and comedic drama of Players is a familiar lesson about reconciling the person you are with the person you think you should be. Mack’s character development is believable because of Rodriguez’s committed performance, which moves with ease between tears and laughter.

Players finds its heart, and its narrative anchor, in Mack’s connection to her friends and to her craft. Although the film, like most rom-coms, take liberties in portraying the mechanics of journalism, it leans into Mack’s writing to help us understand that Nick might not be Mr. Right. She courts the celebrated scribe while chipping away at her small but meaningful story about baseball fans and her parents. It’s through work on the latter that we not only come to understand Mack, but feel compelled to keep rooting for her.