Hollywood star Sam Worthington has said that working on his new film The Shack helped him to better understand his relationship with God.
The Shack is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by William P. Young, which follows the spiritual journey of a father, Mack, after suffering a family tragedy which makes him question his innermost beliefs.
“I’m still on this journey of discovery [myself] and I think part of my journey was getting involved with The Shack,” the actor said.
“I could see myself in Mack, the arguments he had towards God, towards what happen to him and how frustrated and angry [he was]. In my 20s and my 30s that’s exactly the type of person that I was. I was looking for something and I didn’t even know where to begin.”
‘Angry’
The 40-year-old believes everyone could identify with that place of brokenness. “The Shack itself is a metaphor of all the pain and the guilt, resentment, anger, frustration that we feel, all these negative things and we do live in them, everybody does.
Everybody carries those kind of burdens. A relationship with God and faith helps you relieve that burden and learn how to let go of them and move forward,” he said.
The star, known for action movies such as Avatar and Terminator Salvation, said it was a friend who first gave him a Bible back when he was an “angry” young man.
“He was instructed to read it for “guidance”.
“[Around that time] I was lucky enough to travel around the world and I ended up going to different churches. I would first notice the architecture but then I started to notice how we’re all so connected through faith,” he said.
“Now I’m starting to understand my relationship with God and how strong faith can be amongst people,” Worthington said.