Steven Brian Sutherland

A Journey to Alpena MI: Reflecting on Wild Faith Christmas

11/18/2024

Alpena, Michigan. What a wonderful, peaceful place. From the moment I stepped off the plane at the smallest airport I’ve ever seen, I knew I was in for a unique experience. My driver, Dane, picked me up and whisked me off to wardrobe. There, I was greeted by Shelly, who had also done wardrobe for Ashes of Eden. Seeing her again brought a nostalgic warmth to my heart. It felt like reuniting with family.

The sense of welcome didn’t stop there. I was hosted by a delightful couple, Mike and Kate Phillips, who made me feel right at home. Mike is deeply passionate about Alpena’s rich history. He leads historical tours, restores old cemeteries, and shares the fascinating stories of the city’s past residents to honor their legacies. The couple owns the Centennial Building, a landmark steeped in local history. Staying with them was more than just lodging—it was a masterclass in Alpena’s heritage.

Wild Faith Christmas: A New Chapter, The film picks up after the events of the original Wild Faith movie, following Emmett Murphy and his father-in-law Edmond as they embark on a mission to deliver donated goods to a northern church hosting orphans during the holidays. Of course, nothing goes quite as planned, and the story takes a thrilling turn.

In this sequel, I play Harley—a gritty outlaw with a troubled past. Born in Kentucky and raised in the mines of upper Michigan, Harley works for Mr. Dunkirk. He’s a man with nothing to lose, and as Harley himself might warn, “Messing with a man who has nothing to lose is the best way to lose everything you hold dear.” Harley’s complexity and raw desperation made him a deeply compelling character to portray.

This film holds a special place in my heart, not only because of the character I got to explore but also because of its poignant message about adoption. While set in a bygone era, the themes of children and the need for loving homes are as relevant today as ever. The chance to reunite with my Ashes of Eden family was just the icing on the cake.

The Magic of Collaboration With just ten days to shoot, the schedule was tight. Preparation for each scene was brief, limited to quick discussions about blocking and storytelling, character choices and moments of the let's do this type of setting. On sets like this, you have to arrive fully prepared, ready to collaborate with others who’ve done the same. It’s a fast-paced dance, and when everyone hits their mark, the result is a beautiful blend of art and emotion. I truly believe we achieved that in this film.

I also had the pleasure of working with some incredible talent. Tim Lovelace and I couldn’t stop cracking each other up—it’s rare to find that kind of chemistry on set. Teyton Allen Colbert, who plays one of the orphans, impressed me with his professionalism and maturity well beyond his years. Randy Spence, my “brother” in the mines, brought a grounded authenticity to his role.

A Spark for the Western Spirit Working on Wild Faith Christmas has ignited a love for Westerns in me. The rugged landscapes, the moral dilemmas, the horses, the beard, the grit—it’s a genre I’d love to dive deeper into. Fun fact: I recently discovered that Wyatt Earp was married to a very, very distant relative of mine, Ursula Sutherland. How cool is that? Maybe playing a cowboy is in my blood after all.

Coming Soon Wild Faith Christmas is set for a worldwide theatrical release in 2025, followed by streaming and a DVD release. This project has been a labor of love, and I can’t wait to share it with audiences. Whether it’s the heartfelt message about adoption or the gripping storytelling, I hope it resonates with viewers as much as it has with me.

Alpena, Michigan, and Wild Faith Christmas have left an indelible mark on my journey. It’s not every day you get to blend history, art, and purpose into one experience—but when it happens, it’s nothing short of magic. Thank you so much for the expierence to everyone involved. All love.

Love God,
Love Life,
Love The Fight,

DONT EVER GIVE UP!

Steven Sutherland

Teyton Allan Colbert

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Angel Studios: A New Era of Purpose-Driven Storytelling in Hollywood

10/28/2024

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In an industry often dominated by blockbuster franchises and massive studios, Angel Studios has emerged as a refreshing force in faith-based, purpose-driven entertainment. Their commitment to powerful, truth-centered narratives is not only reshaping what’s possible in Hollywood but also impacting millions around the world.

As someone who began my journey in faith-based films, starring in "Ashes of Eden" and "Surrender," and now stepping into a supporting role as one of the main antagonists in the upcoming "Wild Faith Christmas," I’ve been profoundly moved by Angel Studios' approach to storytelling. I admire their work because they prioritize heart, impact, and authenticity—qualities I’ve always aimed to reflect in my own career and they do it with a professional approach.

One of Angel Studios' most impactful projects is "Sound of Freedom," a film that tackles the heavy, real-life issue of human trafficking. Starring Jim Caviezel, this intense and moving film brings to light the heroic efforts of those fighting against modern-day slavery. It doesn’t shy away from the darkness of the subject but still delivers a message of hope and action. This type of courageous storytelling is exactly what the world needs more of, and Angel Studios does it with grace and urgency. It’s one of those films that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Perhaps Angel Studios' most well-known project, "The Chosen," has revolutionized how biblical stories are told. As the first multi-season series about the life of Jesus, it offers a fresh, intimate portrayal of Jesus’ life and the people who followed him. What makes "The Chosen" truly special is how it humanizes these iconic figures, making them relatable which is how I would expect them to be in real life. The show has gained a massive global following, and its success has proven that audiences crave content that speaks to their faith and values. It’s not just about religion; it’s about stories that resonate on a deeply human level on a professional level.

I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Atlanta premiere of "Sound of Hope" at Trilith Studios, where I met the director and producer, Joshua and Rebekah. Their passion and dedication to telling meaningful stories were palpable, and seeing the film on the big screen reinforced why Angel Studios would partner with them. Like many of their projects, "Sound of Hope" dives into heavy themes about adoption and love. It’s the kind of film that doesn’t just entertain—it calls for introspection, adoption awareness, inspiring viewers to be part of positive change. Angel Studios consistently chooses projects with a deeper purpose, and that’s something I admire greatly.

What sets Angel Studios apart is their ability to build community around their projects. They allow their audience to participate in funding and shaping their films and series through their guild crowdfunding. This model creates a deep connection between the content and its viewers, something truly unique in the industry.

As an actor, I’ve always believed that storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to inspire, and Angel Studios is doing just that on a grand scale. Their ability to take on difficult, often overlooked or controversial topics while maintaining a message of hope is remarkable. I would love to collaborate with them on a future project. Their vision aligns with mine—a belief that stories should make an impact, inspire change, and above all, bring light into the world. Being part of a film or series that speaks to people’s hearts, like "The Chosen" or "Sound of Freedom," would be an incredible honor. I believe that God places us in the right opportunities to fulfill our purpose, and working with Angel Studios feels like a calling that could one day become a reality.

Angel Studios is not just making movies and shows—they’re crafting experiences that resonate with truth, hope, and purpose. As someone who believes in the power of storytelling to change lives, I’m excited to see what they’ll do next. And, who knows? Maybe one day I’ll have the opportunity to bring my passion for acting and my love for meaningful stories to a project with Angel Studios.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to check out "The Chosen," "Sound of Freedom," and "Sound of Hope." These are stories that matter, and I believe we need more content like this in the world today.

Trust God,
Love The Fight,
Love Life,

Steven Sutherland

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Character Development & Backstory

10/24/2024

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This isn't a cookie-cutter topic. Character development and backstory are always different for each role I've taken on. While there may be slight similarities, they vary depending on the character. For some, early childhood memories and experiences play a more significant role in shaping their current story. For others, certain relationships or situations from childhood influence behaviors in their adult life.

Character development has always been a bit tricky for me. I'm starting to accept that it's okay to draw inspiration from other actors' performances and adapt those ideas into my own approach. For example, I'm currently working on a character where I'm taking cues from Sam Rockwell's role in The Green Mile—little nuances and behavioral ticks, so to speak. Like how Jake Gyllenhaal gave his character a hard blink in Prisoners, or Brad Pitt's laugh in Fight Club, and Marlon Brando's confidence and swagger in On The Waterfront.
The most important thing for me is understanding what my character wants throughout the entire film and how that desire ties into each scene. One common mistake I notice among amateur actors is making a scene about themselves. It's NEVER about us; it's always about the other person. We never approach real-life situations thinking, "I want to look cool." Instead, it's more like, "I want THEM/HER/HIM to think I'm cool." It’s a subtle but crucial difference.

Another thing that helps me stay in character is finding a little quirk. Maybe it's a limp, being an avid smoker, or a subtle expression they always have. It's these small details that keep me grounded. In Ocean’s 11, Eddie Jemison’s character stabs his foot with a tack during a lie detector test to keep his heart rate steady while telling the truth. That "tack" serves as a reminder for me to stay in character. The hard blink, the expression, the tobacco chew, the lean in my walk—whatever that little inspiration is, it keeps me connected to the role. The rest follows suit.

It's always fun and interesting to do the work—building your backstory, your inner dialogue, your overall and scene objectives. Then, when you're on set, mixing all that with the other actors—who have hopefully done their own work—you see how it all affects your character. You might be the garlic, and they're the pepper, blending into the movie, which is the soup. It all mixes beautifully.

I had a rough childhood, which has been both a blessing and a curse in my acting. I’ve got a lot of pain to draw from, and that’s been a real asset as an actor. I often use my father in some way to motivate my characters. It's always about love. It's always about trying to fill that hole that's been left open in my life. Not that it’s healthy to dump all my emotions out on set, but it’s the small nuances that help. I ask myself: What did my old bedroom smell like? What color was the living room in my father’s house? How did I feel when he first came home from work? I use those memories to create depth in my character.

I'm always learning, always exploring. There's really no wrong way to approach character development as long as your performance tells the truth. The audience can always sense when something is fake; it screams on camera. There was a study where two actors were filmed. The first was told to look at a table and imagine someone they loved dead on it. The second actor was told to just focus on the patterns and imperfections of the table. When the audience was asked which gave them more feeling, they all said the second actor. The first actor was pretending—trying to imagine something they hadn’t experienced. The second actor was simply being real. That’s the essence of acting. Find the truth in the moment. Let the audience fill in the rest.

Robert De Niro is a big advocate of this philosophy, which is why the phrase "be in the moment" is so popular among actors. It’s often misunderstood, but it means exactly that—just be in the moment.

That's what I would tell future actors: Don’t make it about you. Be in the moment and find ways to tell the truth. Be honest and portray the character through your own lens, in a real and authentic way.

Love God,
Love Life,
Love the Journey.
Steven Sutherland

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Returning to My Acting Roots in Wild Faith Christmas

10/15/2024

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I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve booked an exciting role in the sequel to Wild Faith--Wild Faith Christmas. This time, I’m stepping back into the 1880s, portraying a coal miner with a fiery spirit. While I can’t reveal too much about the film just yet, I can say I’m ecstatic to be back on set with familiar faces like DJ Perry, Shane Hagedorn, and Melissa Anschutz.
It’s been a while since I’ve focused on acting. After breaking my hand and hip, I had to put my career on pause to concentrate on financial stability. During that time, I bought a house and married my amazing wife, Tris Sutherland—some of you may know her as Tris Marie.
The last project I worked on was Time Boys 2, a period piece set in both the 1920s and modern day. The film has been in post-production for a while now, but I’m hoping we’ll see some footage soon so I can share a sneak peek with you. In it, I play Benjamin Hawkins, a 1920s gangster seeking revenge on the family who stole his father’s invention.
Once we wrap filming for Wild Faith Christmas in Alpena, Michigan, I’ll be seeking new representation and updating my headshots to dive back into my acting roots. I’m both excited and a little nervous about what’s ahead, especially balancing acting with work to keep the bills paid—homeownership does that to you!
Stay tuned for press releases and updates on my upcoming projects. There are a few other things in the works that I’m excited to share when the time’s right.
Just a quick update for now.
Love God,
Love Life,
Love the Fight,
Steven Sutherland

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UPDATE ON LIFE

11/7/2018

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Hey everyone! I know I haven't really been on here in a while. I haven't been on set in forever which is why I haven't posted on here. aside from all of my auditions and such, I haven't been able to do much of anything in the last year or so. I ended up working for Marvel as a grip and it kept me really busy for a long time doing construction on movie sets. Then I dropped my agency and after all of that I ended up breaking my hand really bad and now my hip is broken. I am back home in Michigan to heal up and reset my life. Even my car broke on me and I had to get rid of it so I am literally starting over. I can't walk for three months so I am honestly sitting around not doing much but healing right now. I could definitely use some prayers. I've had three surgeries on my hip and hand so It's been rough and my spirits have been sort of "meh" about it all. I've lost 30 pounds since everything. Things are looking up, I'm staying with family now and eating healthy, three times a day and healing up. peaks and valleys. I'm trying to focus on God and healing right now and once I get back to acting I want to do it the right way. I don't want to make the same mistakes I've made in the past. Thanks for hanging around and keep the faith. I have nothing but faith that I will fulfill my dreams, It's just not on my watch lol.

Love God,
Love the fight,

Thanks for reading! Comment below if you have questions!

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PUSHING MY YOUUTUBE CHANNEL!

9/20/2018

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I just started pushing my YouTube channel. I have been posting almost every day for the last month and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. be sure to check it out and subscribe to it! I think it really showcases a comedic side of me that some of you haven't seen in my movies. click the video above to see welcome video.

www.YouTube.com/StevenSutherland

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Update On My Life - A real confession

8/2/2018

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Life is really hard these days. pursuing this career is HARD. Since i last posted I have really gone through a lot. I broke my hand and had to have two surgeries on it. I got into a car accident that totaled my car and the car I bought afterwards broke also. I had to move back home to Michigan to heal up and save money for a new car. Since then I have really been struggling with wondering what is happening with my life. I've been feeling defeated, utterly defeated. I know It's just a phase and "This too shall pass." It's been really hard to see people around me succeeding and booking things left and right and i haven't been on set in 5+ years. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm annoyed. I'm irritated and annoyed, I'm sick of feeling like I don't even know if this industry is even for me. If I don't have acting, I don't have anything. It's really hard to explain but when you honestly have something permanently built into your soul and you feel like you're failing at grasping it, it takes apart of you with it. I will NOT give up and i know this is just a phase. Jenna Fischer says all successful actors must suffer in order to succeed. I can honestly say that I am suffering. After being homeless, flying to places, sleeping on the floor at airports for auditions, sleeping in my car, losing relationships, ruining my credit, going broke, moving 13 different times to sleep on couches and air mattresses, moving away from friends and family, going through job after job, getting fired for auditions, making no money to making more money than I could ever make working for Marvel and feeling completely hopeless because I wasn't acting. Still, I'm happy I got to pay off my credit card and my car I wrecked. I was gripping. I was window shopping. Looking in from the outside, watching other actors live MY dream. Life is not fair and I know It's not meant to be fair. I just have to rise above this. Sine I broke my hand, I lost 30 pounds and I'm going through a minnie depression, having to move back home and start over with life. It's good to see friends and family but it really such feeling like I'm at a complete stand-still. I will not give up though. I've had a lot of people tell me "Well at least you can say you gave it your all." Did I? I still have breath. I am still alive. I'm still HERE! I will be able to say I gave it my all when I'm looking Jesus in the eyes and my life is long gone. I will fight for this career until the day I die.

I hate how hard things have to be just to chase a dream. I hate the struggle even though I know It's molding and humbling me. I am humbled. I am humbled.

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A Video Blog about my Journey So Far

3/21/2017

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Life - The Bigger Picture - EXPERIENCE IT

2/3/2016

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A lot of us get caught up with our lives. We forget the bigger picture. We forget to experience. We forget to LIVE, myself included. You owe it to yourself to get out there and go through life with a spontaneous approach.

As an actor It's so important to get out there and live. It's absolutely imperative that you go outside the box and do more than just go through the motions. We draw from our experiences. How do you expect to have a good career with nothing to draw from? GO OUT! LIVE! LOVE! LOSE! FEEL!

There's an actor who once smashed a poor child's toy RC car and broke it so he could understand what it's like to feel that HURT that you've put in someone. I'm not saying you should break a poor child's toy but It's important to relate to your emotions to give a raw performance. Go out. Live!

I want to experience what life has to offer. I want to run in the rain for no reason. I want to feel adventurous and spontaneous without worrying about the outcome. I want to help people, have you ever felt the feeling of being truly appreciated? I want to jump out of an airplane to feel that RUSH. I want to feel hurt, I want to feel happy. I want to meet people and experience all that life has to offer. Yes, I've hurt people in the past and I've most definitely been hurt. Losing a father to suicide has really given me an unfortunate gift to FEEL and EXPRESS pain on screen in such a way. It's given me anger and regret. It's filled me with sadness, with a lack of closure, with a constant wondering of WHAT IF but that has caused such a beast inside me that will always help me create a powerful, relatable character for my career.

My main point here is this, It's our responsibility to experience life to It's fullest so we can share our experiences of emotion for others to RELATE to. You can't live life in box and expect to be inspired. You must live to be inspired. Find INSPIRATION to INSPIRE. Don't be afraid of getting hurt. Don't let circumstances control you. Don't be apart of the mold. SEPARATE yourself from the rest and show people that there is more to life than just existing. There's more to life than existing, There's Living!

Love God
Love yourself
Love the FIGHT

Steven Sutherland

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An Inspirational Message

1/22/2016

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A lot of people get so caught up in other people's opinions. I'm guilty of it myself from time to time. When you allow other people's opinions to get the best of you, you're really getting the best of yourself. We are in total control over our mind our body and our spirit. You make the conscious choice everyday to get out of bed and face THIS day however you decide to face it. Allowing people to put you down, hurt your feelings or make you fell LESS than is only you hurting yourself. It's like the saying goes, you better not ever get beat because you beat yourself.

It's completely up to you how far you want to go in life. How successful do you want to be? We all have that inner choice to do something great. Sometimes the outcome you want takes longer than you expected but I can promise you one thing. If you stay the course through all the battles and being told NO over and over again, you work harder than you ever have in your entire life, you DON'T give up, you STOP feeling sorry for yourself and you PUSH through the pain, blood, sweat and tears you will find that light at the end of the tunnel and It's going to be so satisfying knowing that you made it when everyone else around you said you couldn't. You're going to get banged up and hurt along the way. That's inevitable but it also creates character and drive. Sometimes Being told NO or falling apart every once in a while is the best motivational experience you will ever have.

I've been in Atlanta for four months now and I've had countless disappointments from unexpected problems like my laptop crashing or car not starting. Yes, I had that moment with my head on my steering wheel asking myself "how am I going to get through this" but I PUSH through it and find a way. God has a way of working things out. I've started this journey with a personal trainer and I've injured myself twice now but i stayed the course and worked around my injuries, I'm all healed up and still going strong. I've gained ten pounds of muscle so far!

Sometimes there are things in life you just have to outlast. Just stay the course. JUST STAY THE COURSE! Be the best you can be everyday.

Love God,
Love yourself
Love the FIGHT!

Steven Sutherland

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A Journey to Alpena MI: Reflecting on Wild Faith Christmas

Angel Studios: A New Era of Purpose-Driven Storytelling in Hollywood

Character Development & Backstory

Returning to My Acting Roots in Wild Faith Christmas

UPDATE ON LIFE

PUSHING MY YOUUTUBE CHANNEL!

Update On My Life - A real confession

A Video Blog about my Journey So Far

Life - The Bigger Picture - EXPERIENCE IT

An Inspirational Message

My Career

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