'What If...': Kevin Sorbo Answers God's Call With Wholesome Family Films

Fifteen years after its original release, the film What If..., starring Kevin Sorbo and Kristy Swanson, is coming back to theaters for only two days on August 5 and 7, as a Fathom Event.

What Is What If... About?

Counting The Chosen creator Dallas Jenkins as a producer, the film tells the story of highly successful businessman Ben Walker (Kevin Sorbo), who is visited by Mike (John Ratzenberger), an unlikely truck-driving angel.

Mike gives Ben a glimpse into how his life would look, had he followed God's plan for his life –- marrying the girl he loved, and building his career in the small town of Clearville.

In that alternate version of his life, Ben enjoyed great wealth -– not the wealth of money and possessions, but the greater wealth of relationship and deep love for his former girlfriend Wendy (Kristy Swanson), who is now his wife and mother of daughters Kimberly (Debbie Ryan) and Megan (Taylor Groothuis).

I had the opportunity to talk with Kevin Sorbo this week, as his 2010 film returns to theaters for its 15th anniversary. He offered an inside look at filming What If..., and shared the story of his long career in the film industry.

Kevin Sorbo and Dallas Jenkins, Friends, Neighbors, and Creative Partners

The film was also directed by Jenkins, Sorbo's good friend and neighbor in Los Angeles. But, in 2010, Jenkins had not yet achieved the fame he enjoys today as creator of The Chosen.

Sorbo recalled that Jenkins had given him the script to read, and he'd been enjoying it aboard an airplane.

“I was coming back from another movie,” Sorbo recalled, “...and I was sitting there on the plane laughing -– not out loud, because I didn't want to cry out loud on the airplane, but I was quietly crying and sometimes laughing. The guy next to me finally asked, 'Dude, are you all right?' And I explained that it's a really good script I'm reading right now!”

When the flight landed, Sorbo called Jenkins and asked, “Hey, who's playing Pastor Ben in this movie?” Jenkins told him that there were a couple of guys lined up –- but Sorbo insisted, “No, no, I'm playing the part!”

Jenkins was concerned that his limited budget would not permit him to hire Kevin Sorbo, an established actor, for the lead. For his part, though, Sorbo wanted the role.

“Pay me what you can afford!” he said. “No matter what your budget is –- pay me scale. It's a SAG [Screen Actors Guild] movie, so pay me SAG scale. Because I really love this story.”

The “What If?” Moment

Sorbo's character Ben Walker, a wealthy businessman, gets a second chance at life. He loves his life, and he doesn't want to go down the other course and experience what could have been. With the help of the angel Mike, though, Ben did find himself living a simpler life -– and experiencing that “what if” moment was life-changing.

Sorbo believes that everyone has a “what if” moment in his or her life.

“Everything you do in life has an opportunity cost,” Sorbo says. “You do one thing, and you can't at the same time do other things. You ask yourself, 'What if I had gone to that college instead of this college?' I think this is the reverse of It's a Wonderful Life.”

Two Creative Minds – Sometimes with Different Perspectives

Working with Jenkins, Sorbo said with a smile, is “quite interesting. It's pretty cool; we both get along great.”

Sorbo admitted that the two men butted heads occasionally on the set; but there was no animosity.

“He's strong-willed,” Kevin said, “and I'm strong-willed. We knew we had something good; we just didn't realize how good.”

Looking back, Sorbo noted that What If... really opened the door for him to want to do more films in the same genre. A few years later, God's Not Dead came along, written by Chuck Konzelman, the same writer who'd written What If... -- and once again, Sorbo jumped at the opportunity to join the cast.

Thinking back to those two films, Sorbo appreciated the message of each; but he thought that What If... was a better movie.

“It'll touch people's hearts and make them laugh,” he said. “There's a lot more humor in this than in, say, God's Not Dead. So I always talk about it. I always talk about it.”

He was surprised and pleased when Jenkins came to him and expressed his hope that What If... could be released in theaters again.

It's rare, Sorbo noted, to take a 15-year-old movie and give it another theatrical release! But out of the blue, Jenkins said that they were getting a lot of traction, people were talking about What If....

With Jenkins' strong following because of The Chosen, and with Sorbo's popularity due to God's Not Dead and other films, Jenkins thought that they should push it and get What If... back into theaters.

A Long List of Successful Projects

If there's one thing I've noticed about Kevin Sorbo, it's that he's incredibly productive. The actor has more than 90 films to his credit, as well as multiple television shows and even video games. And, according to TVGuide, he's earned 22 awards.

In addition, Sorbo is founder and spokesman for A World Fit for Kids, a nonprofit organization that helps children who are at risk of dropping out of school, dealing drugs or getting involved with street gangs.

Since completing work on What If..., Sorbo has averaged at least four movies a year. The majority of those films are family-friendly (he likes to use that description, rather than calling them "faith-based".) His films, he says, always carry good messages.

In a nutshell, Sorbo listed some of his recent projects: He directed and starred in Let There Be Light (2017). In 2019, he directed and starred in Miracle in East Texas, a true story written by Dan Gordon and set in the 1930s.

In 2023, Sorbo's directorial and acting skills were displayed in Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist. That was an interesting full-circle experience, he said, because the co-author of the Left Behind series, along with Tim LaHaye, is 21-time New York Times bestselling author Jerry Jenkins, father of Dallas Jenkins.

When we spoke, Sorbo had just completed a movie called Christmas Eve, which will open in November. He described it as “a wonderful movie that deals with seven different stories that happened on Christmas Eve in different times, in different parts of the world.”

Sorbo is in one of those stories; his role, he reported, is in a World War I story about American soldiers coming upon German soldiers.

There are four more films scheduled for release in the near future. One, titled Eating With the Enemy, is a story of the Last Supper. There are three documentaries, including one filmed in Israel, The Quest for the Throne of God, which traces the flow of the Ark of the Covenant.

How Sorbo's Movies Touch Hearts

Sorbo hopes that his films will motivate viewers to consider the message of the Gospel.

“So many people have stopped me, in hotel lobbies and airports,” Sorbo reported. “They'll say, 'We know that Hollywood has banished you. We know you make the movies you want to make through Sorbo Studios, and we're fans! Your movies have touched me.'”

After What If... was released, and again shortly after the release of God's Not Dead, Sorbo saw an increase in viewer contacts. Once in an airport, he reported, a woman stopped him. “I was born in Iraq,” she told him, “and I was a Muslim, until I saw your movie –- and this changed me!”

“I get that all the time!” Sorbo said. “And so I said to God, 'Oh! So this is what you want me to do, God! This is my calling.'”

He reported that he's had atheists stop him and say, “I just don't believe the way you do, but I liked the movie!” He considers that a good thing –- a win.

Sorbo's list of new films will bring moviegoers out in the coming year. For now, What If... will be available in theaters on two days only: August 5 and 7 (tickets here).

The version showing in theaters will include a roundtable discussion hosted by Jenkins, with participants including stars Kevin Sorbo and Kristy Swanson and John Ratzenberger (Mike the Angel), and Michael Scott, one of the film's producers.

Image: Fathom Events

Kathy Schiffer writes regularly for the National Catholic Register and Catholic World Report, and for other Catholic publications, including Evangelization and Culture, Crisis Magazine, Aleteia, Zenit, the Michigan Catholic, and Legatus Magazine. She’s worked for Catholic and other Christian ministries since 1988, as radio producer, director of special events, and media-relations coordinator.