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Lucas Black has his priorities straight.
The former “NCIS” star may be a success in Hollywood, but he doesn’t put anything before God and his family.
“This is one that’s a story that is about faith and family. And so, you know, that’s important in my life,” Black told Fox News Digital of his new movie “Unsung Hero,” which chronicles how the family of Christian pop band For King & Country’s Luke and Joel Smallbone first came to the U.S. to rebuild their lives. “So, I was excited. I was excited to get it because some of these stories — they don’t come around very often and, you know, so that was a blessing.“
Black said he was also grateful that the movie was shot in Louisville, Kentucky, not far from where he lives with his wife and three children.
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Lucas Black prioritizes his family over his career. (Ryan Theriot/Getty Images/Skip Bolen/CBS via Getty Images)
“We found two weeks in Louisville, and so I was happy to be, you know — family and close here to home and Kentucky,” he said.
Black told Fox News Digital he relates to his character Jed Albright as a husband and father of faith in the movie “Unsung Hero.” (Lionsgate)
Black told Fox News Digital he also relates to his character Jed Albright as a husband and father of faith.
WATCH: ‘NCIS’ alum Lucas Black and his wife put their relationship before their careers
Video“I’m married, I have three kids and, you know, my character’s a churchgoer, and, so am I — so, you know, trying to be a man of God, live by faith and be there for the relationships, be present, for my wife and my kids,” he explained. “And, you know, Jed seems like the person that was the same way. He, in the script, he’s wanting to do good and help the community and be theman that God’s called him to be.”
He added, “I’m honored to be a part of this story and what it promotes, you know, family and trying to be a good man of God.”
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Black said he and his wife of 14 years, Maggie O’Brien, a lawyer, have kept their marriage strong by “not putting the career before our relationship.“
Black with his daughter Sophie in 2015. (Erika Goldring/Getty Images for Feld Entertainment)
“When we made that covenant with each other and before God and before man, you know, she becomes the number one person in my life and is over everything else,” he said. “So, nothing should get in the way of that. And so, you know, it’s communicating each other’s needs and — but we, we keep Jesus at the center. He’s the head. We can’t do it without him.”
Black joked that his wife “knows I’m going to mess up and, so my wife has to be full of grace. And that only comes from the power of God, to put up with my shenanigans.”
WATCH: ‘NCIS’ alum Lucas Black calls being cast in ‘Unsung Hero’ a ‘blessing’: ‘People want good, wholesome content’
VideoHe also called being a father “amazing.”
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“It’s very fulfilling,” he said. “As a man, we kind of yearn for that purpose, you know? And there are some things that I have learned in life. And, you know, for me, I want to pass that on. Right? I want to teach it to my children. And hopefully they can become responsible adults and make a contribution to the world and make an impact for good and grow the kingdom.”
Lucas and his wife Maggie have been married for 14 years. (David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
He called it an “honor and privilege that God wants to partner with us, you know, to procreate and produce life, and that’s just amazing. That’s just amazing to me. You know, that’s one of the first things he’s called us to do is to be fruitful and multiply, and he could have done it on his own, but he chose to partner with us. And so, I feel like there’s a great responsibility. For me, being a dad, and. And I feel like as men we should embrace that. And it’s because it’s the most satisfying and fulfilling, more than anything else that I’ve done in my life.”
WATCH: ‘NCIS’ alum Lucas Black believes men ‘yearn for that purpose’ of being a father
VideoBlack also left his role as Christopher LaSalle after several seasons on “NCIS” and “NCIS: New Orleans” because of his family.
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Black on “NCIS: New Orleans.” (Skip Bolen/CBS via Getty Images)
“I would work 70 hours a week,” he said, “and so there would be times where I would go to work and my kids would still be asleep, and I would come home, and they would be already in bed asleep. So, that doesn’t bode too well — that kind of schedule doesn’t bode too well for the relationships that mean the most in your life. So, I knew it wasn’t going to last forever for me.”
Black said he finally left the CBS crime series after lots of “prayer and consideration.”
WATCH: Former ‘NCIS’ star Lucas Black’s character Jed Albright in ‘Unsung Hero’ is also a father of faith
Video“I had to focus on what was most important in my life,” he explained. “I’ve been really blessed, and so God kind of took my career in a different direction, you know? ‘Legacy Peak’ was really the first film that fell in my lap, first script, after ‘NCIS.’ And that was kind of the first time where the production was people of faith and Christian believers.
“And so that was a great experience. You know, it was a real, really blessing to be on a movie set with like-minded believers and with the same goal, and same like-minded people. And so that kind of shifted a whole new path for me. And so, a lot of these scripts have been coming to me now since then, and, that’s how ‘Unsung Hero’ came about.”
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“Unsung Hero” — which also stars Joel Smallbone, who co-directed the film, Rebecca St. James and Candace Cameron Bure — is set to bow in theaters Friday.
