Demetrius Grosse on ‘Sound of Hope’ and a Lesson in Supplication| National Catholic Register

Editor’s Note: With the film Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot currently in theaters, EWTN News In Depth host Catherine Hadro sat down with Demetrius Grosse, who plays Reverend Martin in the film that tells the true story about a small church in East Texas that rescued 77 children from foster care. The interview, which aired July 5, is reprinted here and edited for length and clarity. 

Demetrius, thank you so much for joining me, and congratulations on the release of Sound of Hope. It’s a powerful film, hard to watch at certain times. What drew you to take on this role?

I think just the story, the legacy of Bishop W.C. Martin and first lady Donna Martin. It’s a true story. They banded together the 22 families that adopted 77 of the hardest-to-place foster children, foster-care children in the foster-care system in East Texas. And when you get an opportunity to portray such heroes, if you have a heart, so to speak, you can’t turn that kind of opportunity down. I think acting, art, us, in our greatest manifestation as actors, as performers, is portraying these kinds of stories that are hope-filled and positive and can provoke change.

And this is a true story, as well. What did you know about foster care and the foster-care system going into this role? And how does that compare to what you know now? I’m curious about what you learned and what surprised you the most.

Well, I didn’t know much. You know, I didn’t come from a foster-care scenario growing up, so I had to do a deep dive into my research and, you know, realizing that there are over 400,000 children just in the U.S. alone that are still waiting to be adopted, and just looking at the horrible statistics about child trafficking and incarceration rates and how our orphan crisis matriculates into those awful systems. And so, to me, this felt like a cause movie, and it felt like a great movie cinematically, with our filmmakers, Josh and Rebekah Weigel, the director and producer, respectively; they did it the right way. They went to Possum Trot. They moved their family down there and did the research. I know our director and producer, they’re also adoptive parents. So I felt like we were in good hands with telling a story like this. 

And for me, I had a man who I know as my father who is no longer with us. He’s with the Lord now, but he adopted me without signing paperwork, so to speak. So my mother was a single mother for many of my early years. And when he married my mom, he always, always called me his son. Even when I was calling him Gary, you know, when I was calling him by his first name, he was still calling me his son. And so I was grafted into that, into a family, and I felt very lucky and fortunate for that. So when I looked at this script, and particularly W.C. Martin, I knew what it was like to have a heart after God that cares for children. Obviously, I’m a father, so I could relate in that way, as well.

Do you hope and do you think, in your opinion, that more local churches should take on a mission like Bennett Chapel did in Possum Trot, should reach out and take on foster-care children?

I think so. I think the beauty in this story is while Bennett Chapel is categorically a Pentecostal Baptist church, the call to action in this film is nondenominational. In fact, there’s a story, if you will [to illustrate this concept]. You know, there’s a little kid, and he was drowning in a riverbed, and a Catholic priest walks up and throws out a rope, but it’s too short. And then a Muslim imam, he throws a rope, and it’s a little too short. The Jewish rabbi comes up and throws a rope, but it’s a little too short. So then it takes the three of them to get together and tie the rope together to throw the rope to the child, who’s able to be pulled up from the river, and to save that kid’s life. And I think it’s important for us to realize that this is not a religious film. It’s not a faith-based movie, but it is, in fact, a faith-fueled movie. Faith, belief, unfettered, unconditional love, is at the bedrock of this story. And it really takes all of us, regardless of our denomination, regardless of our creed, even. This is a film that we feel so proud to bring to the world.

Because if you have a heart to help, if you have a heart to elevate our communities and better our children’s futures, you’re going to feel something and be changed. When you watch this movie, regardless of whatever denomination you are, you hope that.

It motivates all viewers of all different faiths.

And so far, it’s doing just that, and I hope it does more of that. I think there needs to be more unity in the body of Christ. I think there needs to be more compassion across creeds. And if it takes a mission like the orphan crisis to do that, why not? I think it’s going to really open up some eyes and change some hearts, in terms of how we not only view ourselves within Christendom, but also how we look over at other faiths or even other denominations within the body of Christ.

I understand you were baptized Catholic. You went to a local Catholic high school here in Washington, D.C.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Pray for us all the time.

How did that formation lend itself to your preparation for this role as a Baptist bishop, as a Baptist minister?

Well, at Gonzaga, not too far from our studios here, you know, we have a phrase called being a man for others; that is like the moniker. Anyone who’s come through the halls of Gonzaga knows that phrase, and that’s something that sticks with you. We do community service at the [Father] McKenna Center, all through the city soup kitchens, so others may eat. All of these kinds of initiatives are grafted into our academic journey there at school. 

And I think, for me, learning about the Martins and how they just had such a heart for service, regardless of sometimes having limited resources, whether that be financially or even just infrastructure to house these kids; but what they did was this thing called supplication, right? So in Philippians, Chapter 4, it says, “Be anxious for nothing, but through all things, by prayer, thanksgiving and supplication, make your request known unto the Lord.” And I was always enamored and sort of fascinated with this word, “supplication.” What does it mean? It means to go out and to galvanize other people and to collaborate to do good or to proliferate the Gospel. These people in this community, this couple that led Bennett Chapel, that leads Bennett Chapel to this day, they embody that.

What a great example we had as the actors in this film to follow suit with that, to use that story, their legacy that’s still being made to this day as a blueprint and as a paradigm to graft into. We were fortunate in that, to have such a powerful legacy being our north star that we were aiming at when we were making this film.

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