Interview with Rebecca St. James on Family, Faith, and Unsung Hero

Grammy-winning singer Rebecca St. James says she prays that a new film about her family’s trials upon moving from Australia to the U.S. gives moviegoers hope and leads them to “treasure” their family. Unsung Hero (PG) follows the story of her parents, David and Helen Smallbone, who moved to the U.S. in the early 1990s but were forced to scramble to make ends meet when the job that led to their move didn’t materialize. Jobless and nearly broke, the family did odd jobs to survive.   

“I pretty quickly moved into babysitting and cleaning houses,” St. James told Crosswalk Headlines. Eventually, she found a career in contemporary Christian music and changed her name from Rebecca Smallbone to her stage name to appease music executives. Much later, her brothers, Joel and Luke Smallbone, launched their own group, For King and Country.

“If I have a takeaway from the film that I pray people will take away, it’s hope, and it’s that God redeems our story, no matter how hard it gets,” St. James told Crosswalk Headlines. “And I think a lot of people are discouraged in our world today. They’re discouraged about marriage, they’re discouraged about family life, they’re discouraged about faith. A lot of people, I think, need hope and need to be reminded that God is the great redeemer of our story and of our life. I think that’s why people are responding to the film the way they are.”

Related:

Read more about Rebecca's story and Unsung Hero here!

‘Unsung Hero’ Rockets to No. 2, Receives Rare A+ CinemaScore from Audiences