MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

“My Brother’s Keeper” hit theaters this month on over 200 screens nationwide, bringing to the silver screen a role that Christian actor T.C. Stallings described as one of the “most challenging” of “his career so far.”

"I've been blessed to do over 20 films and a lot of times, the roles are kind of one dimensional, meaning you either got to be really mean, or you got to be this or that,” the “War Room” actor said in an interview with The Christian Post.

“When I played Tony Jordan in 'War Room' that was really the first character that had a crazy emotional arc, where it was really challenging to play Tony Jordan. People got to hate you, then like you a little bit and want to be mad at you again. It's just taking you on this ride.”

In “My Brother’s Keeper,” Stallings plays war veteran SFC Travis Fox who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after returning home from battle.

"I've never been in the military. I had to knock down that persona, that attitude, their standards, the way they think, and all of that,” he explained. “Then his arc and the way he is, he's a very untrusting person. He's been through a lot, [has] a lot of scars. But then you have the PTSD aspect of it; I've never had it, I had to study PTSD. And studying that and hearing people tell their stories ... and watching ... PTSD YouTube videos and talking to soldiers in person.”

"You want to be authentic to the role when you do it. So when all these soldiers watch, I don't want them to be like, 'Man, we don't act like that; this dude is exaggerating.' And I also don't want them to say, 'Dude, you have no idea that PTSD is so much harder than that, you're making light of it,” he continued. “You want to do it justice. So that's why it was really, really challenging.”

Stallings told CP that after watching the film back, he believes he was able to capture the heartbeat of the film and give a sincere performance.

Alongside Stallings, “My Brother’s Keeper” also features actors Joey Lawrence (“Melissa & Joey,” “Blossom”), Robert Ri’chard (“Coach Carter,” “Empire”), and Keshia Knight Pulliam (“The Cosby Show”).

According to the film's synopsis, Travis Fox and his “best friend SFC Ron “Preach” Pearcy (Lawrence) are in their sixth combat deployment when Preach and his entire Ranger platoon are killed in a deadly improvised explosive device attack. Travis returns to his hometown to settle the affairs of his parents who had passed away years before. In searching for answers about his parents, he also discovers a new obstacle in PTSD. He finds support from church counselor Tiffany Robertson (Knight Pulliam) and slowly begins to rediscover his faith in God until he discovers a secret. Travis uncovers a secret hidden by his best friend Donnie Berry (Ri’chard) that threatens his new-found faith, restores his guilt, and causes him to consider the unthinkable.”

SOURCE: CHRISTIAN POST