Nate Bargatze says in a new interview that his Christian upbringing helped inspire his upcoming comedy film The Breadwinner – along with his desire to see more family-friendly movies on the big screen.
The PG-rated movie opens in theaters May 29 and follows a father whose identity as the family provider is upended when his wife’s business idea lands a major deal on Shark Tank, leaving him to navigate the sometimes chaotic world of full-time parenting at home.
It is his first theatrical film and was produced by Wonder Project and TriStar Pictures. Bargatze co-wrote it and produced it.
It was important, he said, for the film to reflect what he has built his career on: clean comedy grounded in values.
“It’s just how I grew up,” Bargatze told The Christian Post, adding he was raised in a Christian home in the heart of the Bible Belt: Nashville, Tennessee.
“My parents would have killed me,” he said with a smile, referencing the possibility of viewing a questionable film. “I wasn’t allowed to watch a lot of stuff, and so that was a big inspiration for even making this movie.”
Bargatze and Mandy Moore star in the lead roles.
“This is a movie that I know – like, growing up [when] I was 12 years old, we would have been very excited to go see this movie. And so I think a lot back on that,” he said while noting the film is a mirror image of his comedy, appropriate for all audiences.
“I wanted everybody to be able to come to it, and not feel like they’re getting in trouble. I don’t want to get in trouble, either. My parents would have been mad,” he said in his signature deadpan style.
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Moore’s character begins the film as a stay-at-home mom who genuinely enjoys caring for her family and managing the household. Bargatze said it was important to show that role as meaningful and fulfilling, not something from which she needed to escape.
“She’s a stay-at-home mom, and I really wanted to show that she loved that,” he said, calling the fictional parents and children a “wonderful family” that had “this thing all going” when the script is flipped.
The film, he told The Christian Post, affirms fathers, too.
“It’s not just a movie about being like a dumb dad – it’s just a dad figuring it out,” Bargatze said, adding that by the end of the film, his character’s attitude is “I’m gonna do it” – that is, serve the family in whatever way is needed.
“And it just brings the family closer.”
Last year, Bargatze told The New York Times that although he doesn’t view his work as “faith-based,” his Christian values naturally shape his comedy – which he hopes will resonate with families from all walks of life.
“I am second – second to God, second to family,” he said, adding he’s also second to the audience and “everybody.”
“You kind of live to serve. So it’s very much a calling in that aspect that I feel,” he said.
“I just want to make something that all of them can be in the room together,” he said of different generations – from children to grandparents. “And I feel it’s driven on a bigger purpose for me.”
