God damn it Sorbo, you used to be cool

[mr friendly guy]

Considering that Sorbo attacked atheists on a show where the host previously said Ebola was God's gift to the world because it will wipe out gays and other undesirables, I think its fair to say Sorbo most probably believed a lot of what was in God Is Not Dead.

On another note does anyone know how much he was paid for doing Hercules and Andromeda. I remember the actors from Sliders getting a fairly decent pay check for each episode, and I doubt Sliders had the popularity of Hercules. If he got paid the same, there is no way he should need to take shit gigs to pay the bills unless he like a lot of people spend money like there is no tomorrow.

[Thanas]

I know that he was paid by far the most of all the cast, my guess is twice or third times as much. His salary was the largest single item for the cost of each episode.

[Thanas]

Oh, and for added laughs he actually claimed that there was a huge conspiracy to keep him out of decent Hollywood work due to his conservative views. Nope, couldn't possibly be the fact that he sucks.

[Elheru Aran]

Pay aside, some people just need to keep working in order to not get bored out of their skulls. If you were an actor for a decent chunk of your professional life, you might continue acting regardless of financial need just because you enjoy it (whether or not you were actually good at it). That's quite probably the case with Sorbo; he's at the point in his life where he can pick and choose what he's going to work in, and it shows, frankly.

[Broomstick]

Oh, and for added laughs he actually claimed that there was a huge conspiracy to keep him out of decent Hollywood work due to his conservative views. Nope, couldn't possibly be the fact that he sucks.

Or maybe because he's such a dick in real life.

There are actors who have had trouble getting work not because of lack of acting ability but because they are such jackasses they are a nightmare to work with.

Then there are other actors some big names will take a paycut to work with/appear as cameos alongside them because they are, apparently, wonderful human beings.

[mr friendly guy]

Sorbo is decent in the action man role, but he isn't Tom Cruise material. Sorbo's views about Hollywood is of the same vein as Christians "I am being persecuted" line.

[Tsyroc]

I know that he was paid by far the most of all the cast, my guess is twice or third times as much. His salary was the largest single item for the cost of each episode.

I think he was getting paid for being the lead and as one of the main producers on Andromeda so it was probably a lot more than anyone else on the show. I don't remember the specifics but from what I recall about seeing his "deal" I was surprised that a syndicated show could put such a huge chunk of its budget into one thing, one actor. The company footing the bill must have really been able to sell the show on Sorbo's name or something like that if they were willing to give him such a good deal.

He also had a lot better working hours on Andromeda. I think it was an important part of the deal to him since he still was recovering from his stroke, and had some long term issues that weren't likely to go away ever.

[Tsyroc]

Sorbo is decent in the action man role, but he isn't Tom Cruise material. Sorbo's views about Hollywood is of the same vein as Christians "I am being persecuted" line.

I think he had a window for getting into "Hollywood" but he was busy and/or dealing with his health issues. Plus, Kull didn't exactly do all that well.

After that I do think he kind of damaged his relationship with Rami/Tappert, which might have been another "in" for him post Hercules. I also bet that how things went on Andromeda haven't done him any favors either. Running off producers and writers might come back to bite you in the ass, especially if they turn out to be successful on their own. Then it looks even more like the person who drove them away was the problem.

There are other writers/producers (Alex Kurtzman / Roberto Orci) from Hercules who have gone on to be successful in TV and movies and I haven't seen Sorbo in any of the things they've done. Granted, I don't know how he would have fit into what they've done and he might have been offered something but turned it down.

[mr friendly guy]

If you think Sorbo can't sink any lower he has. Hollywood is now run by the Jooos.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/kevi ... hollywood/

[Broomstick]

It's the old "I'm not as successful as I want to be therefore it is someone else's fault" meme at work.

[Serafina]

His complaint doesn't even make any sort of sense
"There are no movies about the new testament because everything is run by jews - as demonstrated by this poor execution of a story from the old testament".

But then again, who needs internal consistency when you have bigotry.

[Purple]

His complaint doesn't even make any sort of sense
"There are no movies about the new testament because everything is run by jews - as demonstrated by this poor execution of a story from the old testament".

But then again, who needs internal consistency when you have bigotry.

Not defending the guy or anything but his statement sounded pretty consistent to me. He basically says: "I get it. We can't get any new testament stories because of the jews. But at least they could have gotten the old testament stuff right."

[houser2112]

"Passion Of The Christ" is New Testament, is it not?

[Elheru Aran]

Passion of the Christ is also basically Mel Gibson's little vanity project. IIRC his stumping for it is the main reason major film distributors picked it up. As well, the various Christian groups in the US more or less promised everybody in their denomination would go see it-- and they pretty much delivered. You make a movie that's going to tickle fundie nipples, they're gonna show up for it and their pockets are deep. Apocalypto was built upon Gibson's success with Passion, and it went over like a lead balloon.

See also movies like 'Fireproof', 'Courageous' and 'Facing the Giants'. Which are largely produced and made by a mega-church in Georgia. Tyler Perry also makes 'family values' movies independently; they get picked up and distributed because Perry has connections in the industry, not to mention being best buds with Oprah. That recent History Channel series on the Bible? The guy who produced it and his wife (who also played in disgustingly saccharine Touched by an Angel) are fundies and received a lot of support from religious groups.

For all Kevin Sorbo's disgusting racism, he does have a point in that Hollywood doesn't typically do Bible movies and when they do, they're either kid-friendly and bland (Prince of Egypt) or dramatic versions of Bible stories heavily edited to modern tastes (the upcoming Moses movie, the 'Noah' movie-- if you go back far enough, Martin Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ). If they pick up Christian movies, it's because they've basically been promised ridiculous profits thanks to pandering to Christian groups. That's pretty much the only reason they do it; they wouldn't make much money otherwise because they just aren't really to the tastes of general society.

There is absolutely no reason to blame it on "Jews", though.

[Raw Shark]

Yeah, it kind of begs the question, "If the Jews are controlling Hollywood to push a religious agenda, where are all the movies promoting Jewishness? No, Woody Allen does not count." There are probably more movies featuring Satanism and/or Satan Actually Doing Stuff, because that shit sells. If it bothers you that Christian movies are not selling, maybe you should make better Christian movies, Kevin.

[Elheru Aran]

That's really pretty much a huge reason why Hollywood doesn't do Christian movies right there. 95% of them are pablum for the religious crowd, made by fundies trying to promote a belief system. They're supposedly made for proselyting but in reality end up being put towards internal consumption. They have the production values of a high school drama production, but it doesn't matter because "they have a great message! family-friendly! so genuine!" and all that bollocks. The churches shell out money to truck everybody in for private showings and anybody else either catches a nap or quietly slips into a theater showing a different film.

The other 5% are made by people who know what they're doing and can wring a decent story out of them, and those are the ones Hollywood picks up. Kevin Sorbo does not fall into this category.

If they want to see what films produced by an industry controlled by a certain party look like, they should check out late 1930s-mid 40s German cinema or Russian cinema from ~1930-1990...

[Eternal_Freedom]

They have the production values of a high school drama production, but it doesn't matter because "they have a great message! family-friendly! so genuine!"

Further proof that such films are for internal consumption: mass genocide at the hands of an all-loving God (a la the story of Noah) only counts as family-friendly if you're raised on that shit and still believe it.

[Raw Shark]

I kind of want to make a really good Christian movie that would make a shitload of money now, just to prove it can be done and also to have a shitload of money. As an atheist who got straight-As in Catholic Sunday school for twelve years, I feel like I have both the practical experience and the professional detachment to nail this. There'd be some kind of facile morality in there somewhere, sure, but mostly it'd just be about badass action sequences with angels and demons kicking each others' asses in high-budget epic fashion, borrowing heavily from the In Nomine RPG, the Prophecy, etc to whatever extent I can get away with without lawsuits. Slack-jawed Jesus junkies across the midwest and, to a lesser extent, the nation would congratulate themselves for blowing $30 on a summer popcorn movie on a Sunday afternoon. It would be glorious.

[Darth Yan]

Prince of Egypt and Joseph King of Dreams (not to mention the ten commandments) also required heavy editing.

In Exodus the entire deal with the ten plagues was because God hardened Pharoah's heart to make him refuse. Joseph also helped the Pharaoh gain a stranglehold over the people of Egypt with that Grain stunt.

If those were left in I doubt people would sympathize with either of them.

[Irbis]

There are actors who have had trouble getting work not because of lack of acting ability but because they are such jackasses they are a nightmare to work with.

Then there are other actors some big names will take a paycut to work with/appear as cameos alongside them because they are, apparently, wonderful human beings.

And then, there is Marlon Brando

[Raw Shark]

Then there are other actors some big names will take a paycut to work with/appear as cameos alongside them because they are, apparently, wonderful human beings.

Phil Hartman (R.I.P.) comes to mind, reputedly. Also Paul Reubens. Both are/were apparently awesome, professional guys who show up on time, know their lines, and are never assholes to anybody.

[Broomstick]

Danny Trejo is supposed to be another one. Although he plays bad guys and bad asses in the movies (and used to be one in real life) these days in real life he's a genuinely nice guy. For his first starring role a shitload of bigger name actors came out to do cameos for his movie, and apparently lots of people are still more than willing to do that for him for next to nothing or even for free. He's just that nice a guy to work with.

[Raw Shark]

Danny Trejo is supposed to be another one. Although he plays bad guys and bad asses in the movies (and used to be one in real life) these days in real life he's a genuinely nice guy. For his first starring role a shitload of bigger name actors came out to do cameos for his movie, and apparently lots of people are still more than willing to do that for him for next to nothing or even for free. He's just that nice a guy to work with.

Trejo is a random success story who feels lucky. He started off in petty crime, wound up in prison for a while, got out around age 40, and just sort of fell into acting from being the boxing coach on a film based on his experience as a prison boxer and having a very distinctive look that lead to the director asking him to just do the scene himself as himself. He's reportedly a laid-back guy with a wife and kids now. I particularly enjoy him in Heat and Desperado.

[andrewgpaul]

And now he's doing TV ads for a "Mexican" food brand in the UK.

[Crown]

I came to this late, so all I want to add is Xena: Warrior Princes > Hercules the Legendary Journeys.

It is known.