The Big Picture

Alan Ritchson praises Hilary Swank’s role in Ordinary Angels, lifting the inspirational story to new heights.
The film portrays a heartwarming story of rallying a community to help a family in need against all odds.
Director Jon Gunn’s approach ensures the film honors the depth and richness of the story without shying away from faith-based themes.

From the producers of Jesus Revolution, Ordinary Angels is a drama inspired by unbelievably true events. Alongside co-star Alan Ritchson, Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank steps into the role of Sharon Stevens, a Kentucky hairdresser determined to help a single father and his family.

According to Ritchson, Swank’s involvement in this faith-based feature lifts the inspirational story to new heights. In the movie, the Reacher star plays recently-widowed father Ed Schmitt, who’s doing all he can to provide for his children and keep afloat with their outstanding medical bills. His youngest daughter, Michelle (Emily Mitchell) has Wegener’s disease, like her mother, and is heartbreakingly low on the transplant list for a new liver. That’s when Sharon catches wind of this tragic story and decides to rally their community around Ed and his family in a beats-all-odds story, originally penned by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret).

Ahead of its theatrical release, Collider’s Steve Weintraub spoke with Swank and Ritchson about their time together on set, the most difficult scenes to shoot, and what they hope audiences take away after the credits roll. Check out the full interview in the video above or in the transcript below to find out why Ritchson praises director Jon Gunn’s approach to Ordinary Angels, if Swank’s The Next Karate Kid character will make an appearance in the final season of Netflix’s hit series Cobra Kai, and more.

Ordinary Angels Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.Release Date February 23, 2024 Director Jon Gunn Runtime 116 minutes Main Genre Drama Writers Kelly Fremon Craig , Meg Tilly

Sorry ‘Cobra Kai’ Fans, Hilary Swank Has Bad News
Image via Columbia Pictures

COLLIDER: I have a lot to talk about, but Hilary, I have an individual question for you. When I was putting on Twitter that I was gonna be talking to you guys, a lot of people asked me, with a new Karate Kid movie being made and the final season of Cobra Kai happening, what are the chances of Julie Pierce making an appearance?

HILARY SWANK: Is there a new Karate Kid being made? What are they calling it?

I don’t think it has a title yet.

SWANK: Because I was The Next Karate Kid.

ALAN RITCHSON: Ooh.

SWANK: That’s right. Is it gonna be, like, The Next, Next Karate Kid?

RITCHSON: The Karate Kid Jr.

SWANK: Yeah, maybe.

100%.

SWANK: Is it a girl or a boy?

It is a boy, but I think more people are interested in seeing you in Cobra Kai.

SWANK: Oh, okay. We’ll move off of my being in the movie. I don’t think I am, unfortunately. I know. It’s, like, the number one question I get right now. Most people usually say, “What’s it like working with Clint Eastwood?” But I think, “Are you going to be on Cobra Kai has almost surpassed that?”

It’s because there’s a lot of people that want to see it.

‘Ordinary Angels’ Encourages Audiences To “Just Dive In and Help”
Image via Lionsgate

One of the things that this movie does so well is it reminds you that when we’re working together and putting aside our differences, we can really accomplish anything. There’s so many positive messages in this film. For both of you, what are you most looking forward to audiences getting out of this film?

RITCHSON: Oh, a sense of inspiring one another to help and serve community. I think we live in a divisive time, and we love making monsters out of out groups or other people or individuals, and this just calls us to look at those in need, and without any qualifications, just dive in and help. It shows us what kind of miracles can be had when we do that.

SWANK: I feel the same. I feel like where we can make a difference and help another, do it. It can be just a small action every single day, whether it’s being on the subway and just seeing someone who looks really tired and giving them your seat. That’s a nice act of kindness, and it’s a domino effect.

RITCHSON: Or a hug and a kiss. You could just do that. Random strangers — just hugs and kisses everywhere.

SWANK: Maybe? They might not see that as a…

RITCHSON: Oh, that’s not helpful?

SWANK: Maybe not. They might not.

RITCHSON: “I’m your ordinary angel, I’m here to kiss you.” [Laughs]

SWANK: Maybe if it’s from you. They might be like, “Oh my god, yes!”

I do want to see you doing that on the subway and see people’s reactions who don’t know you.

RITCHSON: Right? [Laughs] Deal.

Image via Lionsgate

When you guys were looking at the shooting schedule for this, what was the day you had circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this,” or, “Oh my god, I have to film this?”

RITCHSON: Day one was, “Oh my god, I have to film this. God, I hope Hilary doesn’t run from me as soon as she sees me on set.” She was so gracious to do this film. We had no business having Hilary involved.

SWANK: What?

RITCHSON: She dove in and elevated it so much. It was a little scary stepping into a Hilary film, and she was so gracious.

Image via Lionsgate

SWANK: Thank you for that, but no. You know what? I didn’t know Alan’s work before this, so to see him like this at first gave me this opportunity to see what a great, deep, soulful character he is as a person, but also what he can portray. Most people can’t do that. Most people can’t bounce from genre to genre, right? You usually get pigeonholed into one or the other, so it was nice.

And to answer that question, there’s always kind of a scene in a movie that you are like, “Oh my gosh, I’m nervous for that day to come.” We had the strike, so we have had some time since we filmed it between now and then, but I’m trying to think of that moment. It was just all such a joy. I can’t think of any specifics.

RITCHSON: The roller skating scene was my dreaded scene.

SWANK: Oh yeah!

RITCHSON: There was a lot of conversation about roller skating, and I was like, “Yeah, I rollerbladed when I was a kid,” but rollerblading is different than rollerskating, and I hadn’t done that in decades. So, it was a real crap shoot that day trying to zoom around.

SWANK: Yeah, you didn’t have to act in that scene.

RITCHSON: Didn’t have to act at all. Ed couldn’t skate and neither could I.

SWANK: [Laughs] I was supposed to be a good roller-skater, though, and they needed a lot of editing.

‘Ordinary Angels’ Director “Didn’t Shy Away” From the Film’s Message

Alan, I saw on your Instagram recently that you posted about the crew on Reacher, and I want to commend you for that because there are so many people that make a movie or a TV show happen that don’t get any credit. So I want to bring it to Ordinary Angels and say there’s a lot of people that worked on this that don’t get any credit. For both of you, who’s an unsung hero that you want to shine a light on that was really instrumental to either your performance or making the film who doesn’t get the credit that maybe they deserve?

SWANK: I would say catering.

RITCHSON: Yeah, that’s a tough one.

SWANK: Catering nourishes everybody so that everyone gets fueled back up, and they work so hard. They get there way before everybody else, and they’re making good food for everyone. No one ever talks about the caterer.

RITCHSON: People don’t realize, you know, food is expensive. The food doesn’t care if it’s a $100 million film or a tiny indie, it’s still like, “You gotta buy me, you gotta pay for me, and feed all these people.” And to be able to do that in a way where everybody feels taken care of in that regard takes a little creativity for that department. So, totally an unsung hero.

I think Jon Gunn needs to get some attention for this. He wrote and directed the film, and that’s a position in Hollywood that’s well respected already, but a film like this could really go either way. Oftentimes, things are treated with a little inauthenticity, or a little too much sweetness, and it becomes a little saccharine. There was a conversation throughout the process about how we can really honor the depth and richness of this complicated story, which veers into questions of doubt, real severe doubt in faith. That’s something that scares a lot of people if we’re gonna talk about potentially a faith-based film, if that’s what some people are calling this. He didn’t shy away from that, and he, as the captain of the ship, made sure that we had all the colors in this film, and I think that’s why it seems to be resonating with people that have seen it so far. He deserves a lot of credit for that.

Ordinary Angels hits theaters on February 23.

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